Court extends separatist Shabir Shah's ED custody by one day

A Delhi court on Wednesday granted one more day to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to interrogate Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah in connection with a decade-old case of money laundering for alleged terror financing. While passing the order, Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Pandit did not agree with the agency's plea seeking seven more days' custody of Shah on the ground that it needed to unearth the larger conspiracy.

The ED's plea was opposed by Shah's counsel M S Khan.

The sixty-four-year-old separatist leader, who was arrested on July 25, was produced in the court after expiry of his seven-day ED custody.

The agency had earlier issued summonses to Shah in connection with the August 2005 case in which the Delhi Police's Special Cell had arrested Mohammed Aslam Wani (35), an alleged hawala dealer. According to the prosecution, Wani had claimed that he had given Rs 2.25 crore to Shah. The ED had registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Shah and Wani. Wani was arrested with a large cache of ammunition and Rs 63 lakh, allegedly received through 'hawala' channels from the Middle East, on August 26, 2005, it had said.