New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday filed a charge sheet against 12 people, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafeez Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen head Syed Salahuddin, in a case related to alleged funding of terror and secessionist activities in the Kashmir Valley.
The (NIA) filed the 1,279- page charge sheet before a designated court here and sought permission to continue its probe. The judicial custody of 10 people arrested in connection with the case ended today.
Under the anti-terror law—the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act—the prosecuting agency has to file a charge sheet within 6 months, failing which the accused is eligible for bail.
NIA officials said they gathered substantial material and technical evidence during the probe. They said 60 locations were raided and 950 incriminating documents seized. There are 300 witnesses in the case.
The NIA had arrested Altaf Ahmad Shah alias Altaf Fantoosh, son-in-law of Syed Ali Shah Geelani; spokesperson of Mirwaiz Umer Farooq-led moderate Hurriyat Conference Shahid- ul-Islam; spokesperson of the Geelani-led faction of Hurriyat Ayaz Akbar and separatists Nayeem Khan, Bashir Bhat alias Peer Saifullah and Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal.
The FIR named Saeed as an accused, besides organisations such as the Hurriyat Conference (factions led by Geelani and Mirwaiz Farooq), Hizbul Mujahideen and Dukhtaran-e-Milat.
The NIA also recorded confessional statements on the flow of money, especially from Pakistan, from four people accused in a case related to the funding of “terror activities” in Kashmir. The statements given before a judicial magistrate had tightened the case against the separatists who allegedly funded stone pelters and spread unrest in Kashmir, the officials said.