'National interest' will drive decisions, new NIA chief on Kashmir talks

Will the NIA's investigation into terror funding cases involving Hurriyat leaders be impacted by the appointment of an interlocutor on Kashmir? New chief of the counter-terror probe agency Y.C. Modi said any decision taken would be in "national interest".

"We work under certain parameters of law but for us national interest is the most important thing. Everybody is working for national interest. So, whatever decision would be taken, it would be in the national interest," Yogesh Chander Modi, who took office on Monday, told the media.

He was replying to a question if there would be any impact on the NIA's ongoing probe against Kashmiri separatist leaders after the appointment of former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma as interlocutor for "sustainable dialogue" on Jammu and Kashmir.

Modi succeeded Sharad Kumar, who led the agency in its probe into the Kashmir terror funding case. The NIA has already arrested eight separatist leaders and some businessmen from Kashmir for allegedly receiving funds from terror outfits in Pakistan for stoking trouble in the state.

Modi, who will hold the post till his superannuation on May 31, 2021, said the cases being investigated by the agency would be taken forward as per the law.

He praised the NIA's conviction rate, saying "it is 95 per cent which as per my knowledge has not been achieved by any agency in the world".

"The NIA is the best investigation team in the country. I worked here for one month and I saw that our colleagues are exceptional in their investigative skills," the new NIA Director General said.

--IANS

rak/sar/rn