Separatist leader Shabir Shah arrested, in ED custody

A court here on Wednesday sent Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah, arrested on charges of money laundering, to seven days custody with the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Additional Sessions Judge Sidharth Sharma allowed the agency to quiz Shah for a week. Shah, arrested on Tuesday by the ED in the Kashmir Valley, was then flown to New Delhi on Wednesday.

Police sources said ED officials executed a non-bailable warrant issued against Shah by a Delhi court.

Shah was shifted from his uptown Sant Nagar residence in Srinagar to a police station in Badgam district on Tuesday evening after his arrest.

"The arrest followed disclosures by hawala dealer Muhammad Aslam Wani, who admitted having passed on hawala money worth Rs 2.25 crore to Shah," an informed source said.

Seven other separatist leaders, arrested on Monday by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), were produced before the designated NIA court in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The court remanded them in NIA custody for 10 days for interrogation over allegations that they got funds from Pakistan to sponsor terrorist activities in the Kashmir Valley.

--IANS

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