Second son of Hizb chief arrested by NIA in 2011 terror funding case

Second son of globally wanted terrorist Syed Salahuddin was today arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with a 2011 terror funding case for allegedly receiving money from his father, the probe agency said.

Armed with a non-bailable warrant from a Delhi court, the NIA officials, accompanied by the state police and CRPF, placed 48-year-old Syed Ahmed Shakeel under arrest at Rambagh locality in the city when he was on his way to Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Science where works as a senior laboratory assistant, the NIA spokesman said.

During investigation, involvement of Shakeel had also surfaced in raising, receiving, collecting funds from terrorist organisation through its active cadres from Saudi Arabia, the spokesman claimed.

The spokesman said he had received money through Western Union several times which were sent by absconding chargesheeted accused Aijaz Ahmad Bhat alias Aijaz Maqbool Bhat.

The probe showed that Shakeel, eldest son of Syed Salahuddin, self-styled chief of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terror group, had received funds from various countries from the operatives of Hizb-ul- Mujahideen.

The accused was summoned by the NIA for questioning but he did not appear prompting the agency to secure a non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against him from the NIA Special Court.

He was brought to the national capital and would be produced before the NIA Special Court for seeking his police custody for custodial interrogation.

He is the second son of Salahuddin who has been arrested by the NIA in connection with the case. Earlier this year, his another son, Shahid, who was working in the agricultural department of the Jammu and Kashmir government, was arrested in the same case.

The NIA alleged Shakeel used to receive funds through a US-based international wire transfer company from Aijaz Ahmed Bhat, another accused in the case who is absconding and based in Saudi Arabia