Terror funding: Son-in-law of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, two other Hurriyat leaders, detained by J&K Police

ED has registered a case of money laundering against LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, Dukhartan-e-Millat, Hizbul Mujhaideen and members of Hurriyat Conference.

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday detained three Hurriyat leaders, including Altaf Ahmed Shah, son-in-law of hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

The other two Hurriyat leaders are Ayaz Akbar and Mehraj ud Din Kalwal.

The three are to be questioned by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) in Delhi.

Earlier this month, the NIA raided 23 locations in Kashmir, Haryana and the national capital in connection with a case of alleged funding received by separatist groups for carrying out subversive activities in the Valley.

Among those raided by the NIA were Altaf Ahmed Shah, the son-in-law of hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, businessman Zahoor Watali, Shahid-ul-Islam, leader of Awami Action Committee led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, and some second rung separatist leaders belonging to both factions of the Hurriyat Conference and the JKLF.

Shah, popularly known as Altaf Fantoosh, was questioned at the NIA headquarters for over six hours over the alleged funding of Geelani-led Tehrek-e-Hurriyat, an NIA official had said.

The NIA has alleged that since cross-LoC trade, at Uri in Kashmir and Chakan-da-bad in Jammu, was based on a barter system, some businessmen "under - or over -invoiced" their bills, and the difference in payment was later used for promoting subversive activities in the valley.

This is the first time since the rise of militancy in Kashmir in the early 1990s that a central probe agency has carried out raids in connection with funding separatists.

The raids were carried out following the questioning of three separatist leaders -- Nayeem Khan, who was seen on television during a sting operation purportedly confessing to receiving money from Pakistan-based terror groups, Farooq Ahmed Dar alias 'Bitta Karate' and Gazi Javed Baba of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, in the national capital last month.

The separatists were allegedly receiving funds from the chief of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Hafiz Saeed, to carry out subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley, including pelting stones at security forces, damaging public property and burning schools and other government establishments.

Last weeek, Enforcement Directorate registered a case of money laundering against Hafiz Saeed, Dukhartan-e-Millat, Hizbul Mujhaideen and members of Hurriyat Conference in connection with the alleged terror funding from across the border to stoke unrest in the Kashmir Valley.