How Hurriyat crooks diverted Pakistan money into their private coffers

The ISI which orchestrates this entire racket does not mind these persons living in lavish bungalows as long as they keep the fire going.

The National Investigation Agency probing the Kashmir terror funding case has learnt that a large part of the money given to separatists had been diverted into purchasing private property.

The NIA during the raids conducted has unearthed several documents which go on to show that the money sent from Pakistan to spread propaganda and terrorism had gone into the private coffers of the separatists.

Take the case of Shabbir Shah for instance. The properties held by Shabir are both legal and benami, the NIA dossier says. There are around 19 properties that he holds, the NIA also said. Apart from a 25 room hotel in Pahalgam, Shah also has houses, shops and land at Jammu, Bugam, Kandipora, Narbal and Lalpora.

Shah is currently being questioned by the NIA which had arrested him last week. The NIA dossier also lists out the properties held by S A S Geelani. The NIA says that most of the properties are in the names of Geelani's sons, Naeem and Naseem. Both have been summoned by the NIA for questioning.

The NIA says that funds had been channelised into the Valley not just through Pakistan, but from London and Dubai as well. While a part of the money were used to fund terror and the unrest, a large part of it may have been used to purchase property, the NIA suspects.

For the investigating officers, the trail is probably one of the hardest aspects to crack. The money comes in through various sources. It lands through hawala or a drug deal. At times the money is parked in the real estate and passed on to the terrorist and separatists in installments.

We have been able to detect that a considerable amount of money had been pumped in through Nepal which was meant to reach Yasin Bhatkal. However he has his proxies to collect the money and this would require further investigations in order to nail him legally, the NIA official informed.

Investigators say transfer of money through hawala is still the biggest draw. In the month of November 2011, four businessmen were booked by the Enforcement Directorate to facilitating hawala transactions through the Line of Control.

It had become evident that this money was being sent by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba to facilitate its terrorists and also the separatists. However investigations had found that the businessmen were only facilitating the transfer for a fee and were not ideologically connected to the Lashkar.

The terror groups still find hawala to be their best bet since it is safer compared to legal banking. It is very difficult to crack the hawala trail as the persons involved in the transfer change after every two or three transactions the officer says.

There is a lot of trade along the border that takes place on the barter system. Terrorists, separatists and their agents pose as traders and end up exchanging money along the border.

Very often these persons also pass on money which is in turn brought into India and handed out to seperatists and terrorists.

Investigations have shown that there were at least 48 agents until 2014 who were using the barter system to fund terrorism in the Valley. The NIA and the ED had found that these persons had managed to move Rs 7.5 million in 20 different cases.

In addition to this the seizures also led to the NIA finding cheques worth Rs 1 lakh which was meant to reach a terrorist or a separatist.

The investigations also revealed that at least 90 persons from different parts of the world were involved in funding terrorists in the Valley. Investigations would reveal that between the years 2009 and 2011 an amount of Rs 12 million had been recovered.

In addition to this fake currency and also Euros were recovered from the agents who were funding terrorists. In the year 2011 some agents had also brought in Saudi Arabian Riyals worth 74,000 into the Valley.

NIA sources say that the funding has gone both to terrorist groups and separatists as well. Money has been pumped into the Hurriyat Conference, Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front, Islamic Students Front, Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Jamiat ul-Mujahideen.

In the case of Syed Ali Shah Geelani an FIR had been registered in the year 1997 in which it was alleged that he had got funding to the tune of Rs 190 million from Saudi Arabia and also another donation of Rs 100 million from the Kashmir American Council.

Investigations had revealed that all these funds were routed through a Delhi based Hawala operative. It was also found that Yasin Malik had received funding of 1 lakh US dollars and the money was being carried by a lady called Shazia.

The NIA says that it is probing into all these angles. We are looking at each case since the 1995 onwards and this will help us get a better picture of the entire racket, the officer further added.

Intelligence Bureau officials tell OneIndia that the money is being used for various purposes. There is a considerable amount that goes into funding their own lavish lifestyles.

The ISI which orchestrates this entire racket does not mind these persons living in lavish bungalows as long as they keep the fire going. Investigations had found that a considerable amount of the money had been used to fuel the 2010 unrest in Jammu and Kashmir too.

The NIA says that funding is the biggest concern and this route and channel needs to be broken. These trouble makers do anything for money and Pakistan is not hesitant to pump in as much as is possible to keep the fire in the Valley burning.

OneIndia News