Arrested Separatists to be produced before Delhi court today

The seven arrested Separatists leaders will be produced before the Patiala House Court on Monday.

Yesterday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested seven Hurriyat leaders on money laundering charges to fund terror in the Kashmir Valley.

The arrested Hurriyat leaders were brought to the headquarters of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Delhi yesterday.

The accused have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The seven separatists include Naeem Khan, Bitta Karate, Altaf Funtus, Ayaz Akbar, T. Saifullah, Meraz Kalwal and Saheed Ul Islam.

Six of them were arrested from Srinagar, while Bitta Karate was arrested from New Delhi.

The NIA visited Srinagar in May to probe the alleged funding by Pakistan for illegal activities in Kashmir, and questioned several separatist leaders on the issue of raising, collecting and transferring funds via the Hawala route and other channels to fund terror activities in Kashmir.

NIA sleuths specifically questioned separatist leaders Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate and Gazi Javed Baba at that time.

The NIA is said to be probing all aspects of funding to separatist leaders and how they reportedly used these funds to fuel unrest in the Kashmir Valley.