Many activists quizzed, more yet to be questioned
*Fresh raids not ruled out to get clues
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Sept 25: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has examined 10 activists of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) during past one week and will be questioning five more in the next few days at the Agency’s headquarters in New Delhi in connection with their involvement in various undesirable activities in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The JeI cadre investigated during past few days or to be quizzed in the coming days belonged to Doda and Rajouri districts in Jammu region and Ganderbal, Srinagar, Kupwara and Bandipora districts in Kashmir.
“We are looking for some more people linked to the JeI case and they will be summoned very soon as the examination is an ongoing process,” the officials said.
The NIA is now engaged in “building up” the case as the suspects being questioned are among those JeI cadres whose residential premises were raided by the investigating agency sleuths during its August 8 and August 9 raids at 61 locations in 14 districts of Jammu and Kashmir in the terror funding case. Click here to watch video
The suspects are being questioned regarding the documents seized from their premises during the raids, the officials said.
The NIA is understood to have got more leads during questioning of the JeI cadre and their links to the banned organization. The leads are being pursued to reach to more activists of Jamaat and unearth the terror funding completely.
“The suspects are currently being examined with the documents recovered from their houses. This is just a preliminary examination in the case. We are trying to build up the case,” the officials said.
There were reports that the NIA could carry out fresh searches on the JeI cadre shortly in search of more leads and documents that could lead to arrest of remaining cadre of the banned organization.
These raids would be in continuation to the 61 search operations conducted by the anti-terror agency’s sleuths on August 8 and August 9 in Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, Anantnag, Shopian, Pulwama, Kulgam, Ramban, Doda, Kishtwar and Rajouri districts in Jammu and Kashmir.
The fresh set of searches are likely to be conducted on the premises of JeI cadres and their supporters across Jammu and Kashmir any time next week.
The searches were planned as the NIA investigator has found “some more leads” in connection with the case.
The NIA along with Jammu and Kashmir Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had conducted searches at 56 locations on August 8 in 14 districts of Jammu and Kashmir. In continuation of the searches, the NIA sleuths further conducted raids at five more locations on August 9.
The searches included the premises of office bearers of the JeI, its members and also offices of trusts purportedly run by the proscribed organisation. Various incriminating documents and electronic devices were seized from the premises of the suspects.
JeI is an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) banned the organisation on February 28, 2019.
The case was registered by NIA on February 5 this year in pursuance of to order from MHA relating to separatist and secessionist activities of JeI even after its proscription.
NIA investigation has so far revealed that the members of JeI have been collecting funds domestically and abroad through donations particularly in the form of Zakat, Mowda and Bait-ul-Mal purportedly to further charity and other welfare activities but these funds are instead being used for violent and secessionist activities.
The funds raised by JeI are also being channelized to proscribed terrorist organisations such as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and others through well-organised networks of JeI cadres.
JeI has also been motivating the impressionable youth of Kashmir and recruiting new members (Rukuns) in Jammu and Kashmir to participate in disruptive secessionist activities
Follow our WhatsApp channel
