Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday attached the property of Hizbul Mujahideen Chief Syed Salahuddin’s son Syed Ahmad Shakeel in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar.
The property was located at Revenue Estate, Nursing Garh, Mohalla Ram Bagh area in Srinagar. It was under the ownership of Syed Ahmad Shakeel, a listed militant under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, of 1967. The NIA attached the property under subsection 33 (1) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 following the order of a Special NIA Court, in New Delhi. The property has been attached as part of NIA’s investigation into a militant conspiracy case registered by the agency in 2011 naming Shakeel among other accused.
The NIA took over the case on April 15, 2011, following an order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The NIA had taken over the case from Delhi Police’s Special Cell and re-registered the case on April 25, 2011, under section 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 17, 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
It is alleged that money from Pakistan was being pumped into Jammu and Kashmir through Hawala channels via Delhi. It was suspected to be used in funding militancy and secessionist activities. The money so supplied might have been provided to the militant and their sympathizers active in Jammu and Kashmir, said the NIA. On July 20, 2011, the agency filed a charge sheet against four accused persons and a supplementary charge sheet on December 22, 2011, against two accused persons before a special court in New Delhi.
There has been no considerable progress in the further investigation of the case after the filing of the supplementary charge sheet. The trial is in progress, says an NIA document, adding “A total of 27 prosecution witnesses have been examined so far.” “It is pertinent to mention here that the cross-examination of one of the witnesses in the case was going on for the last two and half years.”
