NIA carries out many raids in Kashmir, Delhi, Haryana to jam terror funds

Clamping down on separatist groups allegedly receiving funds for carrying out subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday carried out raids at various places and recovered unaccounted account books, Rs 2 crore cash and letter heads of banned terror groups. After thorough planning over the last four days, various NIA teams in Kashmir, the national capital and Sonepat in Haryana began near simultaneous raids since the wee hours at 29 locations on the premises of second-rung separatists, businessmen and hawala dealers.

During the searches, a cash amount of Rs 2 crore was seized from various locations involving separatists and their sympathisers and property-related documents, letter heads of banned terrorist organisations such as Lashker-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen were recovered, official sources said. The NIA also seized pen-drives, laptops, and other documents from the accused during the searches at locations in Kashmir, Delhi and Haryana, so far, they said.

As many as 85 gold coins and other jewellery have also been seized from various locations, they said. After registering an FIR earlier this week, various NIA teams, which had been camping in the Valley for few days, moved under heavy escort from their camp office located at Humhama, on the outskirts of the Srinagar city.

Among those raided were Altaf Fantoosh, the son-in-law of hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani; businessman Zahoor Watali; Shahid-ul-Islam, leader of Awami Action Committee led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq; and separatist leaders belonging to both factions of the Hurriyat Conference and JKLF.