J&K: NIA summons senior Congress leader Ghulam Mohammad Saroori

A senior Congress leader and a former minister in Jammu and Kashmir has been summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for questioning in connection with alleged terror cases in Kishtwar district.

Sources said Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, who was elected MLA from Inderwal Assembly constituency in 2002, 2008 and 2014, has been asked to report to the NIA headquarters in New Delhi over his alleged role in terror cases in Kishtwar district in the recent years.

Earlier, his brother Mohammad Shafi Saroori was booked by the police for allegedly helping militants in killings of BJP leader Anil Parihar and his brother Ajit Parihar, top RSS functionary Chanderkant Sharma and his PSO Rajinder Singh and weapon snatching incidents last year. The cases were handed over by the government to the NIA last year.

“Saroori has been called for questioning after his name surfaced over his links with top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Osama, who was killed in Batote encounter last year,” they said and added that his name has also surfaced in a case regarding violence and arson that took place on August 9, 2013 in Kishtwar.

Saroori, who was a cabinet minister in National Conference-Congress alliance government led by Omar Abdullah, is considered as a close aide of Congress Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Saroori is the second mainstream politician, who has come under the NIA radar. Earlier, in August last year, former independent MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid was arrested by the premier probe agency in connection with a terror funding case.

Since early 2017, the NIA has arrested several high profile people, including businessmen and politicians in Kashmir in alleged terror funding cases.