SIA seizes house registered in Geelani’s name in Srinagar

Continuing its crackdown against Jamaat-e-Islami, Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) on Saturday seized a house in the uptown Barzulla area here which was registered in the name of late separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani.

Officials said the house, believed to have been purchased in the late 1990s by the Jamaat and registered in Geelani’s name, was seized under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Geelani used to live there till early 2000 when he shifted to the neighbouring posh Hyderpora area, they said. The property was later used as the residence of ‘Ameer’ (chief) of the Jamaat.

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Sources said the SIA has also put under scanner late Geelani’s Hyderpora house, as well as an adjoining property which he used as the office of his organisation (Threek-e-Hurriyat) till his death in September 2021.

After Geelani’s death, none of his family members or relatives has taken over the leadership of Threek-e-Hurriyat. His son-in-law Altaf Ahmad Shah aka Fantoosh, who was arrested in the 2017 terror funding case, died while in custody at AIIMS, New Delhi in October this year.

After blocking flow of Hawala money separatists and militants in recent years, the focus of security agencies in Kashmir has now shifted to unearth and seize real estate worth hundreds of crores of the Jamaat, which was banned by the Center in February 2019.

Since early November the SIA has sealed hundreds of properties, including apple orchards, shopping complexes, agriculture land, and residential properties of the politico-socio-religious organization.

This operation is part of an ongoing crackdown on the banned outfit, which is accused of fanning radicalism, separatism, and militant activities in the union territory.

Pertinently, the SIA was constituted by the Jammu & Kashmir government last November on the lines of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), to handle most high-profile terror cases in the Union Territory.