On Saturday, December 24, 2022, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police seized a house registered in the name of separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani located in the Barzulla area on the orders of the District Magistrate of Srinagar.
SIA officials have said that the property of Syed Ali Shah Geelani was purchased by the banned organization Jamaat-e-Islami in the year 1990. However, it was registered in Geelani’s name. Syed Ali Shah Geelani lived here till the early 2000s. But after this, he went from here to live in the Hyderpora area.
जम्मू-कश्मीर: दिवंगत अलगाववादी नेता सैयद अली शाह गिलानी के श्रीनगर के बरजुल्ला स्थित घर को श्रीनगर के DM के आदेश पर राज्य जांच एजेंसी (SIA) ने सील कर दिया है। pic.twitter.com/MypomR0JN7
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) December 24, 2022
Officials have also said that it was being used as the home of the ‘Ameer’ or the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami after Syed Ali Shah Geelani left the house. The current chief of the group is Syed Sadatullah Husaini. It is notable that Syed Ali Shah Geelani died in September last year at his residence in Hyderpora in Srinagar at the age of 92 years.
Seizure of the house was part of 20 properties seized by the state investigation agency of Jammu and Kashmir Police on 24 December, including another house in the Barzulla area. The SIA seized a dozen properties in Pulwama, KUlgam, Budgam and Srinagar worth around Rs 122.89 crore. SIA said that the properties have been seized to choke the availability of funds for secessionist activities and to dismantle the ecosystem of anti-national elements & terror networks hostile to India’s sovereignty. The seized properties included a dargah, a mosque, and several commercial properties from where shops are running.
Entry to the seized properties and their usage has been banned, and “Red entry” to this effect has been made in the relevant revenue records. SIA said that around a dozen business establishments including a shopping complex were running on JeI properties on rent, which means the group was earning revenue from those properties. However, the businesses running from those properties will be allowed to continue as the shopkeepers are private persons with no links to JeI other than paying them rent.
The properties were notified by concerned District Magistrates in exercise of the powers conferred by section 8 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 & Notification No. 14017/7/2019, dated 28- February- 2019 of Union Ministry of Home Affairs, SIA informed.
Regarding the confiscation of assets, the officials also said that the SIA’s action is part of the confiscation of several properties belonging to the banned organization Jamaat-e-Islami. The SIA has identified a total of 188 properties of Jamaat-e-Islami in Jammu and Kashmir. All these properties have either been notified or further legal action is being taken on such properties.
It is being said that this action against Jamaat-e-Islami-Islami will largely eliminate the threat of terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir. At the same time, it is a big step towards ending the fear spread about the law and order situation in society.
J&K | NIA raids underway in Kathua against some suspects, in connection with separate cases having links to terror activities. pic.twitter.com/fRJsREuziz
— ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2022
Apart from the SIA, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has also raided some places in Kathua, Jammu, and Kashmir, in connection with two cases related to terrorist activities. According to the report, NIA has raided some suspicious locations in Jammu and Kashmir. In the raids conducted in some of these places, much strong evidence has been recovered by the NIA.
Earlier on Saturday, December 17, 2022, assets worth Rs 100 crore belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami were seized. The SIA had issued a statement saying that the use of and entry into properties worth about Rs 100 crore have been prohibited in Baramulla, Bandipora, Ganderbal, and Kupwara in the Union Territory after being notified by the district magistrates of Baramulla, Bandipora, Ganderbal and Kupwara on the recommendation of the SIA. These properties were in more than a dozen different places.
