Syed Ali Geelani suspends Nayeem Khan from Hurriyat after TV sting

Senior hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani on Saturday suspended Nayeem Khan's National Front from the Hurriyat, even as Khan told media that the sting operation by a news channel was "doctored and fake".

In a sting operation conducted by India Today TV, Khan purportedly confessed to receiving funds from Pakistan to create unrest in the Kashmir Valley.

Geelani in a statement here said: "I have suspended the National Front led by Muhammad Nayeem Khan from the Hurriyat till such time the controversy raised by the TV news report is explained".

Khan who was the provincial president of the Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference earlier told the media that, "the agenda of the Indian media is to defame the Kashmir struggle."

He said the video shown by India Today news channel was run in "bits and pieces and everything has been taken out of context".

"We generate funds at the local level to help victims of the conflict. Yes, Pakistan is a basic party to the Kashmir dispute and it is supporting the freedom struggle in Kashmir," Khan told the media.