On the day the Indian Air force conducted ariel airstrikes bombing Jaish terror camps in Pakistan, the NIA continued its massive crackdown on the separatist leadership in the Kashmir Valley.
The raids were part of a search operation linked to the agency’s investigation in the alleged terror-funding case. It raided seven locations including, the residences of Moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik, in Srinagar. Apart from these, houses of Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Zafar Akbar Bhat, Naseem Geelani, Masrat Alam, and Shabir Ahmed Shah were also raided.
Shah is already lodged in Tihar jail on money laundering charges while Masrat Alam is in prison since 2010. Yasin Malik was recently taken into custody and lodged in Kothi Bagh police station.
Hurriyat head Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s son, Naseem Geelani and his close aide and chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai were also raided.
The raids came hours after the IAF fighter jets conducted airstrikes at the Jaish-e-Mohammad facility in the Pakistan territory and barely few days after the government launched a major crackdown against separatist leaders in the valley.
In the massive crackdown, almost the entire leadership of Jamat-e-Islami and several other top separatist leaders had earlier been detained and their security cover was withdrawn.
The NIA in an official release claimed, “During the searches, NIA teams recovered incriminating documents including property papers, financial transactions receipts, and bank account details. Electronic devices including laptops, e-tablets, mobile phones, pen drives, communication system, and DVRs were also seized during the searches,” furthering that, “Significantly, letterheads of different terrorist organisations, as well as documents relating to recommendations for a visa for admission in Pakistan educational institutions, were found.”
The NIA statement also claimed that a “hi-tech internet communication set-up” was also recovered from Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s residence.
Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) of separatists, a conglomerate of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Moderate Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik, has called for two-day protest strike against NIA raids, wide spreads arrests and attempts to tinker with State subject Law under the section 35 A.
“Widespread raids of NIA against almost whole resistance leadership, an extensive spree of arrests in nooks and corners of Kashmir valley during which thousands have been put behind bars and threats to tinker with state subject law (35a) are all acts aimed at suppressing our voices of Kashmiris,” said the separatist trio.
