Terror funding case: NIA files chargesheet against LeT, Hizbul chiefs, 10 others

The NIA today filed a charge sheet against terror masterminds Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin and ten Kashmiri separatists for alleged terror funding in the Valley before a city court, which said it would decide on taking its cognizance on January 30.

Additional Sessions Judge Tarun Sherawat, after hearing arguments on the charge sheet, posted the matter for January 30 when it will decide on the point of taking cognisance of the 12,794-page document filed by the National Investigating Agency (NIA).

The probe agency has chargesheeted 12 persons including Hafiz Saeed, the head of banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, for conspiring to wage a war against the government (Section 121 of Indian Penal Code) by carrying out terrorist and secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.


Other offences for which the accused have been chargesheeted include those punishable under sections 120B of IPC (criminal conspiracy) and various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Besides Saeed and Salahuddin, the other 10 accused in the final report are - Hurriyat leader Syed Shah Geelani's son- in-law Altaf Ahmed Shah, Geelani's personal assistant Bashir Ahmad Bhat, media advisor and strategist of the Hurriyat Conference Aftab Ahmad Shah, secessionist outfit National Front chief Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Chairman of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (R) Farooq Ahmad Dar, media advisor of Hurriyat Conference (Geelani faction) Mohammad Akbar Khanday, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat official Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal, hawala operator Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watal and two stone-pelters - Kamran Yusuf and Javed Ahmad Bhat.

According to the NIA, the case was registered on May 30, 2017 and the first arrests made on July 24 last year.

The agency said during the course of investigation, its teams conducted searches at over 60 locations spread across Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Delhi and seized over 950 incriminating documents and over 600 electronic devices.

Over 300 witnesses were examined during the probe, it said.

The NIA said the scrutiny and analysis of the documents and digital devices established that the accused Hurriyat leaders, the terrorists and the stone-pelters were carrying out terrorist attacks and orchestrating violence in Jammu and Kashmir as a part of their "well-planned" criminal conspiracy.

It said that conspiracy was hatched with active support, connivance and funding from terrorist organisations based in Pakistan and its agencies to achieve their objective of secession of the Jammu and Kashmir by waging war against the Indian government.