The separatist leaders arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Jammu and Kashmir for funding terror in the Valley will be produced before a special NIA court here today.
Seven separatists—Altaf Shah, Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Mehraj Kalwal, Shahid-ul-Islam, Naeem Khan and Bitta Karate—were arrested on June 24. They were sent to 10-day NIA custody a day after their arrest.
The accused have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Six of them were arrested from Srinagar, while Bitta Karate was arrested from New Delhi.
The arrest came following the NIA's visit to Srinagar in May to probe alleged funding by Pakistan for illegal activities in Kashmir. It had then questioned several separatist leaders on the issue of raising, collecting and transferring funds via hawala route and other channels to fund terror activities in Kashmir.
The NIA sleuths specifically questioned separatist leaders Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate and Gazi Javed Baba at that time. The NIA is said to be probing all aspects of funding to separatist leaders and how they reportedly used these funds to fuel unrest in the Kashmir Valley.
