NIA detains Hizbul Mujahideen chief’s son in alleged terror-funding case
The agency said Syed Shahid Yusuf has been ‘receiving and collecting funds from Aijaz Ahmed Bhat’, an absconding militant.
The National Investigation Agency on Tuesday detained Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin’s (pictured above) son in an alleged terror-funding case. The agency said Syed Shahid Yusuf has been “receiving and collecting funds through international wire money transfer from Aijaz Ahmed Bhat,” an absconding member of the Hizbul Mujahideen.
Yusuf, who works in the state’s agriculture department, was detained because his name figured in a 2011 terror-funding case registered by the agency, The Hindu quoted a government official as saying. He will be arrested soon and produced before a special court in New Delhi, the agency said.
In September, the NIA had searched 16 locations in various parts of Kashmir and Delhi as part of its investigation into alleged funding given to militants by Pakistan-based groups to stoke unrest in the Valley.
In July, seven separatist leaders, including Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s son-in-law Altaf Ahmed Shah, were arrested in connection with the case.
In September, the NIA summoned Jammu and Kashmir MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid, a PhD scholar at Kashmir University, Aala Fazil, the head of the Kashmir Traders’ and Marketing Federation Yaseen Khan and Hurriyat leaders Abdul Hameed Magrey and Wali Mohammad in connection with the terror funding case.