The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday, 27 October, summoned Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin’s grandson for questioning. This comes only a few days after Salahuddin’s 41-year-old son Shahid Yousuf was arrested in connection with a 2011 terror-funding case.
Talking to The Indian Express, one of Salahuddin’s sons said that the agency’s action was “a ploy to pressure Salahuddin”. “This harassment is to put pressure on Salahuddin. It has been done earlier too, but never succeeded,’’ the family member said. “It is only we, his family, who are suffering. We know it will have no effect on his decisions.”
Another family member said that “all the relatives will together produce themselves before J&K Police in Budgam on Saturday so that they are arrested together”.
The NIA had on Thursday, 26 October, seized five mobiles, two hard discs, one laptop and incriminating documents from the house of Syed Shahid Yousuf, a day after he reportedly confessed to receiving funds for terror activities in the Kashmir Valley.
Yousuf was arrested in connection with a 2011 terror-funding case on 24 October.
NIA officials said a team of the agency sleuths carried out searches at Shahid's residence at Soibug in Budgam district of central Kashmir on Thursday. A resident of Budgam in Jammu and Kashmir, Yousuf is an Agriculture post graduate and has been working in the Department of Agriculture in the Jammu and Kashmir government since 2013.
Hizbul Chief’s Son Admits to Receiving Funds for Terror in Kashmir: NIA
The NIA claimed during questioning he "admitted to having received funds from cadres of the Hizbul Mujahideen on the direction of his father, Mohammed Yusuf Shah alias Syed Salahuddin, for fomenting terrorist activities in the Valley".
The NIA said he also "revealed the names of his associates abroad who were linked with the Mujahideen and involved in raising, collecting and transferring funds from other countries to India". He was sent to seven days custody for further questioning.
Yousuf is the “supreme commander” of the United Jihad Council (UJC), which comprises of 12 militant outfits, NIA said.
According to media reports, Yousuf was summoned by the NIA to New Delhi on 16 October for questioning in a case that was registered against the HM in 2011.
According to an NIA press release, Yousuf had been receiving funds over the years through international wire money transfer from Ajaz Maqbool Bhat, an absconding member of the HM. The NIA claimed so far he had received a total of nearly Rs 4.5 lakh through eight international wire transfers.
Meanwhile, the NIA has filed two charge sheets against six other persons in connection with the case. A red notice has been issued against two of the accused, who are absconding. Yousuf will be produced before the NIA Special Court and taken into police custody for further questioning.
(This story has been updated to reflect the raid at the house of the accused. With inputs from PTI)
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