Separatists get funds from London, Dubai too: Mirwaiz's aide to NIA

New Delhi: Leaders of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) receives funds for its operations in the Kashmir valley not only from Pakistan, but from outfits in London and Dubai too, a separatist arrested in July has told the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

NDTV, quoting a top government official, reported that separatist Shahid Ul Islam, who was a close aide of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and also the Hurriyat network’s spokesman, made the revelations during interrogation following his arrest in July.

Investigators are still trying to find out the channels that the separatists used to receive money from, a senior police personnel told NDTV.

The NIA also seized a list, containing names of 150 terrorists active in the Valley, from Shahid.

The anti-terror probe agency, in a bid to foil funding for Hurriyat leaders, arrested Shahid along with six other separatists earlier in July. Shahid crossed into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in early 1990s and thus had overseen some terror launch pads.

Shahid was spotted with Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, in old photographs that the security agency found in course of its searches. In another picture, he is seen with an AK-47 standing alongside other armed men, who the NIA says, could be terrorists.

The list of 150 terrorists disclosed that the gulf between separatists and terrorists is not as wide or deep as it was previously thought to be.

"We have some credible leads to work on... It is a wide investigation and will take some time,” the government official said.

The list includes names of 82 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives, 64 Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, 10 from Jaish-e-Mohammed and 2 from Al-Badr.

The NIA at a previous meeting had informed a Delhi court that they had been able to track funds received by separatist leaders to organisers of stone throwers in Kashmir.

“We have analysed a lot of phone calls; we have ample technical and documentary evidence against people we have arrested and are questioning,” the official said to elaborate on how it is validating its case.

Shahid will be produced in court on Friday, along with 6 other arrested separatists.  

The NIA, after sharing results of its investigation will be seeking more time to interrogate Shahid in order to fill the missing links.

Government officials have further agreed that statements made during custodial examination hold little value during trial for they could have been made under pressure but are indeed invaluable for gathering evidence to strengthen its case.