Centre asks NIA to probe who is funding unrest

With no let up in violence in the Kashmir Valley, the Centre has asked the Intelligence Bureau and the National Investigation Agency to set up a special team to probe the funding for the ongoing agitation.

The instructions were issued after a meeting chaired by Union home minister Rajnath Singh, along with national security adviser Ajit Doval, to review the security situation. The officials discussed inputs suggesting a large amount of funds were being pumped into the Valley to fuel the protests.

Sources said the home minister directed the security agencies to freeze the flow of funds aimed at fuelling protests, as most of it is coming through the illegal hawala channel.

The NIA is already investigating the role of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyaba in the ongoing turbulence in the Valley, and intelligence inputs suggest subversive elements in Pakistan are sending funds to sustain the momentum of the protests.

“The home minister’s directives are clear that if illegal money is being pumped into the Valley to incite protesters, it should be stopped. We now need to ascertain the network from which the money is coming, and freeze it. The illegal money flow is one of the reasons why the protests are on for over a month,’’ said a senior official.

In the past two days, a Central Reserve Police Force commanding officer, Pramod Kumar, was killed while nine other jawans were injured in a militant attack in Nowhatta, Srinagar. Five civilians are also killed and several others injured in the Army crackdown on stone-pelting mobs in Budgam and Anantnag districts.

The home minister has asked security personnel to ensure that casualties of both security forces and civilians are avoided. He was also given a briefing on the infiltration attempt along the Line of Control in the Uri sector where five militants were killed on Monday.

He reviewed security situation in Assam following a recent attack by militant group NDFB(S) in Kokrajhar in which 14 people were killed.