Geelani’s son in law among 7 separatists arrested by NIA

Srinagar: Seven separatist leaders, including Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s son-in-law Altaf Ahmed Shah, were Monday detained by National Investigating Agency (NIA) in connection with funding of militant activities and last year’s unrest in the valley. Meanwhile Joint resistance leadership has called for valleywide shut down today.i.e, Tuesday against the arrests.
As already reported the separatist leaders were in the beginning of this month summoned by the NIA in connection with the militant funding in Jammu and Kashmir.  “They were directed to report to BSF camp at Humhama in the central Kashmir district of Budgam today,” sources said.
They said Shah was in the custody of the state police, who had put him in preventive detention immediately after the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr earlier this month.
“Spokesman of the Hurriyat Conference (G) Aiyaz Akbar and media advisor of Hurriyat Conference (M) Advocate Shahidul Islam, who were also summoned to Delhi for questioning after their houses were raided last month, were also detained by the agency,” they said.
Others detained, included senior hardline HC leader Peer Saifullah, National Front (NF) chairman and senior separatist leader Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar alias ‘Bitta Karate’ and Mehrajuddin Kalwal, they added.
The Agency has questioned more than a dozen separatist leaders, including belonging to both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference (HC) and businessmen in alleged militant funding from Pakistan and Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PaK).
The NIA filed a formal FIR against terror funding after Nayeem Ahmad Khan admitted in a sting operation that separatists were receiving money from Pakistan for terror and stone pelting activities in the valley.  The Agency later raided more than a dozen places in Srinagar, Delhi and Haryana in this connection.
Meanwhile, the NIA last Sunday summoned offices bearers of three religious and social organizations, Auqaf historic Jamia Masjid, Anjuman-e-Nusrat-ul-Islam (AeNI) and Darul-Khair, headed by moderate Hurriyat Conference (HC) Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq.
Meanwhile Joint Resistance leadership (JRL)  called for valleywide shutdown today,i.e, Tuesday  in protest against the detention of seven separatist leaders by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the militant funding in the state.
“We urge people to observe a complete shutdown in protest against the alleged revengeful arbitrary and illegal arrests of Hurriyat leaders Altaf Ahmed Shah, Shahidul Islam, Ayaz Akbar, Mehrajuddin Kalwal and Peer Saifullah by NIA in Srinagar today,” a joint statement said here Monday.
Seven separatists, including hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s son-in-law Altaf Ahmed Shah, were Monday detained by NIA in connection with funding of militant activities and last year’s unrest in the valley, sources said.
Others detained, included senior hardline HC leader Peer Saifullah, National Front (NF) chairman and senior separatist leader Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar alias ‘Bitta Karate’ and Mehrajuddin Kalwal, they added.