NIA grills Geelani son-in-law in terror fund probe

New Delhi: In an apparent move to check the growing influence of Hurriyat and tacit support by some of its members to the agitation in Kashmir Valley, the National Investigation Agency has now questioned Altaf Ahmed Shah, the son-in-law of hardliner separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in connection with its ongoing investigations into terror funding.

Mr Shah, also known as Altaf Fantoosh, was summoned to the NIA headquarters in the Capital on Friday where he was questioned by a team of senior officers about a particular outfit, Tehrek-e-Hurriyat, which is headed by Mr Geelani. Mr Shah is believed to be playing an important role in Tehrek-e-Hurriyat’s functioning.

Mr Shah’s questioning comes close on the heels of multiple raids carried out by the investigating agency across several places in Delhi, Haryana, Jammu and Srinagar last weekend. The raids targeted some hawala operators, businessman and separatist leaders.

Earlier, the NIA had also searched Mr Shah’s premises in Srinagar during the raids and apparently seized some documents following he was interrogated on Friday.

During the raids last weekend, NIA teams also searched the residence of Shahid-ul-Islam, a close associate of moderate Hurriyat leader.

NIA sources said that Mr Islam is also likely to be questioned in the coming days while Mr Shah’s questioning is likely to continue before the NIA records his statement.

The investigating agency had also raided the premises of other separatist leaders, including Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Nayeem Khan and Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate, some of whom have already been questioned by the NIA in connection with the terror funding case.

The NIA, in its FIR, has named the founder of Lashkar-e-Tayeeba, Hafiz Saeed, for pumping in money into the Valley to target security forces as well as groups like Hizbul Mujhaideen and Dukhtaran-e-Milat. The FIR also names both factions of Hurriyat, led by Mirwaiz Farooq and Geelani, respectively.

Apart from incriminating documents, the NIA also recovered some foreign currency of UAE and Saudi Arabia and details of some bank accounts and lockers, which are being scanned for probe.