NIA summons Odisha man in J&K terror funding case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) summoned an individual from Odisha for questioning in the Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case, an official said on Saturday.

A senior NIA official told IANS that Akhthar Hussain, a resident of Cuttack, had been summoned to appear before the agency on December 4 at its headquarters in Delhi.

The official said that earlier, a team of six officials of the counter-terror probe agency had gone to Odisha and questioned Hussain for several hours.

He said that during the questioning, Hussain could not give proper reply to quite a few queries.

The NIA had registered several cases in connection with terror funding to stoke unrest in the Kashmir valley against several top separatist leaders in the month of May.

On July 24, the NIA arrested seven separatist leaders on charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against India. Those arrested included Aftab Hilali Shah alias Shahid-ul-Islam, Ayaz Akbar Khandey, Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, Nayeem Khan, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal and Bashir Ahmad Bhat alias Peer Saifullah.

In mid-August, the agency arrested Kashmir's prominent businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali.

The NIA on September 5 also arrested two alleged stone-pelters -- Javed Ahmad Bhat of Kulgam and Kamran of Pulwama -- in connection with the ongoing probe into terror funding to keep unrest alive in the Valley.

On November 7, the agency seized nearly Rs 36.5 crore in demonetised currency and arrested nine persons in connection with the case. Of them, three hail from Jammu and Kashmir, two from Delhi, two from Mumbai and one each from Uttar Pradesh and Nagpur.

With these arrests, the total number of arrests in the terror funding has reached 19.

--IANS

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