NIA conducts raids in Kashmir in terror-funding case linked to banned Jamaat-e-Islami

Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency on Monday conducted searches in the Kashmir Valley as part of its probe into a terror-funding case linked to the banned Jamaat-e-Islami.

The searches, conducted at three locations in Srinagar and Shopian districts of Kashmir, led to the recovery of several incriminating financial documents and electronic gadgets suspected to be related to the activities of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and its various trusts/associations in J-K.

Officers of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) carried out searches at the Darul Uloom Sirajul Uloom, a school in the Imam Sahib area of Shopian, which was declared an "illegal entity" last month, official sources said.

Searches were also conducted at the residence of the former JeI chief, Shahzada Aurangzeb, at Molu Chitragam in the district, and at the Jamiat ul Banaat, a religious school for girls in Srinagar's Lal Bazar area.

The federal anti-terror agency has been probing the separatist and secessionist activities of JeI, declared an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The investigations so far have revealed that JeI was actively involved in collecting terror funds and fuelling terrorism in the Valley and other parts of India.

"It was engaged in collecting funds domestically and internationally in the name of donations for charity and welfare activities, such as health and education.

"It was diverting such funds towards violent and secessionist activities, and also channelling them to proscribed terrorist organisations such as the Hizbul-Mujahideen (HM) and others through well-organised networks of cadres," an NIA statement said.

The JeI terror conspiracy also involved radicalisation and recruitment of impressionable Kashmiri youth as new members ('Rukuns') for carrying out secessionist activities, it said.

The NIA is continuing with its investigation into the case in a bid to end the outfit's secessionist activities and dismantle the terror network operating in J-K, the statement said.