On Thursday morning, Hizbul Mujahideen Chief Syed Salahuddin’s son Shakeel was arrested in Srinagar in terror funding case, a National Investigation Agency (NIA) spokesman said. A team of NIA along with the Central Reserve Police Force and local police arrested him.
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Shakeel was arrested from his Rambagh residence, the spokesman said. The NIA in May 2017 launched a probe against the unnamed leaders of the separatist group- All Parties Hurriyat Conference, and leaders and members of three terror outfits- the Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) and Dukhtaran-e-Millat on the suspicion of getting funds from the most wanted ‘Hafiz Saeed’ for the violence in the valley and the incidents of stone pelting in the valley.
The agency in January this year charged seven middle-ranking separatists — Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s son-in-law Altaf Ahmad Shah, Hurriyat (Mirwaiz Umar Farooq faction) media adviser and strategist Aftab Ahmad Shah, Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, prominent Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali; and militant leaders Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and Syed Salahuddin.
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However, the NIA didn’t charge or question Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq or any of the top separatists in the case.
Altaf Ahmed Shah, Aftab Ahmed Shah, Bitta Karate, Nayeem Khan, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal and Bashir Ahmad Bhat alias Peer Saifullah were arrested in July 2017 and are in jail. Watali was also arrested in August and two alleged stone pelters- Kamran and Javed Ahmed Bhat- in September.