NIA summons Mirwaiz, Geelani’s son to Delhi for questioning in funding case
Srinagar, Mar 09: The NIA has summoned Hurriyat-M chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and the son of Syed Ali Shah Geelani for questioning in Delhi in a financing case, officials said on Saturday.
According to a notice served on them, the Mirwaiz and Naseem Geelani have been asked to appear at the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters in New Delhi on Monday, the agency officials said.
The NIA had on February 26 carried out searches at premises of separatist leaders, including the Mirwaiz, in connection with the case related to financing of militant and separatist groups in Jammu and Kashmir.
The NIA team, accompanied by police and CRPF personnel, searched residences of some of the separatist leaders, including the Mirwaiz, Naseem Geelani and Ashraf Sehrai, the chairman of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.
The houses of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Muhammad Yaseen Malik, Shabir Shah, Zaffar Bhat and Masarat Alam were also raided.
Barring the Mirwaiz and Sehrai, all other leaders were jailed for some time.
The NIA had questioned two maternal uncles of the Mirwaiz — Maulvi Manzoor and Maulvi Shafat — and his close aides last year. Both Manzoor and Shafat are retired senior government officers.
The NIA probe seeks to identify the “chain of players behind the financing of terrorist activities, pelting of stones on security forces, burning down of schools and damaging of government establishments.”
The case names Hafeez Saeed, Pakistan-based chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), as an accused, besides organisations such as the Hurriyat Conference factions led by Geelani and the Mirwaiz, Hizbul Mujahideen and Dukhtaran-e-Millat.
Meanwhile, Mirwaiz was also placed under-house arrest on Saturday soon after he was summoned by the NIA.
A local news agency quoted Hurriyat-M leader Bilal Lone as saying that he, Prof. Abdul Gani Bhat and his lawyer weren’t allowed to enter Nigeen residence of Mirwaiz.
“We were barred from going inside,” he said.
Trade bodies call two-day shutdown in downtown Srinagar
Srinagar: Reacting to summoning of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq by NIA, trade bodies in old city have called two-day shutdown from Sunday in downtown Srinagar.
“Strongly reacting to the National Investigation Agency’s summon to the Kashmir’s chief cleric and world renowned religious scholar Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Beopar Mandal Mahraj Gunj, Shahre Khass Traders & Manufacturers Coordination Committee & Jamia Market Traders Federation has called for complete shutdown in and around Old City Srinagar on Sunday and Monday,” said the trade bodies in a statement.
“Summoning Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Naseem Geelani is totally undemocratic and will not be tolerated by the people of Kashmir in general and the traders fraternity in particular,” the trade bodies said, in the statement.
They said all the shops, transport, schools and offices will remain closed on Sunday and Monday.
