Separatist leader Shabir Shah sent to seven-day ED custody

Separatist leader and Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) chairman Shabir Shah, who was arrested from his residence yesterday, was produced in the Patiala House Court today and has now been sent to a seven-day Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody in connection with a terror-funding case.

Shah was under house detention for a very long time, in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar. The reason for his arrest is yet unknown as he was already under house arrest since many months.

On Monday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested seven separatists over money laundering charges, for funding terror in the Kashmir Valley.

All seven separatist leaders - Altaf Shah, Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Mehraj Kalwal, Shahid-ul-Islam, Naeem Khan and Bitta Karate - were later sent to 10-day NIA custody.

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

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.

The 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.