Kashmir unrest: NIA unearths role of Hafiz Saeed as links to separatists emerge

The NIA has summoned separatist leaders, including Naeem Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Gazi Javed Baba and few others in the hawala funding case.

The National Investigation Agency which is conducting a probe into the funding for Kashmiri separatists to cause unrest has found Hafiz Saeed to be the primary financier. Saeed the boss of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba has pumped in crores of rupees into the coffers of the separatists to keep the unrest in the Valley alive, the ongoing probe by the NIA has found.

He is the mastermind of the unrest, an NIA source said while commenting on the role played by Saeed. He had decided that following the death of Burhan Wani, the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist last July, the time was right to fuel an unrest in the Valley.

The probe is at an early stage said the NIA which has registered a preliminary enquiry into the matter. We are in the process of building a fool-proof case. Once more evidence comes up, we will question separatist, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the NIA official said.

Summons:

The NIA has summoned separatist leaders, including Naeem Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Gazi Javed Baba and few others in the hawala funding case. The NIA says that the scale of the unrest was so high that it could not have been done without adequate funding.
The money flow was huge, the NIA officer said. It came in through multiple sources from Pakistan. Money was moved through hawala channels in most cases. There were also several instances of cross border trade being used to raise funds, the NIA officer said. In some cases, the infiltrators from Pakistan had personally hand delivered the cash, officials also say.

NIA officials further state that it was Saeed who was the mastermind of the unrest. He ensured that the money flow was regular since July 2016. The NIA is hopeful of making more breakthroughs in the case. The evidence gathering is on and this entire nexus will be busted soon, the NIA official also said.

NIA officials further said that a large part o the money was used to pay the stone pelters in the Valley. They were paid anything between Rs 300 to Rs 1,000 a day to pelt stones at security forces. The separatists have a set of stone pelters who fuel the unrest, NIA officials also added. Some of the stone pelters were also paid in kind, the probe has found. In many cases, smartphones were given to stone pelters, officials also say.

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