NIA questions Syed Ali Shah Geelani's sons again in terror funding case

New Delhi: For the second time in a fortnight, the National Investigation Agency on Thursday questioned two sons of pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in connectionw with a terror funding probe allegedly involving Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, officials said.

Geelani's sons Nayeem and Naseem were questioned earlier on August 8. The elder son Nayeem is a surgeon by profession, while Naseem is an employee of the Jammu and Kashmir government.

According to officials, who are not authorised to speak to media, the two were asked to bring certain documents related to financial transactions that have come under the scanner of the NIA.

Nayeem is tipped as the natural successor to lead the Tehrek-e-Hurriyat, a separatist conglomerate comprising pro-Pakistan hardline groups, after his 87-year-old ailing father.

The NIA had registered the case of terror funding and named Saeed, leader of the Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa and banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, as an accused.

It had registered the case on May 30, accusing separatist and secessionist leaders of being in cahoots with terrorist groups.

The case was registered over raising, receiving and collecting funds through various illegal means, including through hawala channels, for funding separatist and terrorist activities in the state.

The case also included causing disruption in the Valley by pelting security forces with stones, burning schools, damaging public property and waging war against India.

It was the first time since the rise of militancy in the early 1990s that a central probe agency conducted raids in connection with the funding of terrorist and separatist groups. 

(With Agency inputs)