NIA quizzes separatist leaders over subversive acts in J&K

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday quizzed three Kashmiri separatists in connection with its probe into the role of Lashker-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in subversive activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

The NIA team, headed by the Additional Director General, had asked Nayeem Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar alias 'Bitta Karate' and Gazi Javed Baba to appear before it for their explanation on an expose on a television channel where they had claimed receiving funds from Pakistan. After initial reluctance, the three separatists fell in line and were questioned separately by the team of NIA, which named them in its Preliminary Enquiry (PE) on Friday.

The NIA team will be gathering evidence collected by the Jammu and Kashmir Police about the burning of schools as Khan had claimed that the educational institutions were targeted as per the plans hatched from across the border.

The schools were targeted last year after banned Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces on July 8. Besides these three, NIA has named Saeed and Geelani in the PE, which precedes the filing of a case.

Nayeem Khan, who was suspended by Geelani from Hurriyat today, was seen on television during the sting operation purportedly confessing to receiving money from Pak-based terror groups. Geelani suspended Khan's National Front from basic membership of Hurriyat Conference until the clarification of all the related issues comes to fore and the truth comes out, a spokesman for the hardline leader said.