SRINAGAR: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at multiple locations on Thursday in a case related to separatist and secessionist activities of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI).
NIA said that JEI was still indulging in terror funding activities in Jammu and Kashmir, even after being declared an unlawful association under the UA(P) Act on February 28, 2019.
The NIA had filed a charge sheet in the case in the Special Court, Patiala House, New Delhi, on May 12, 2022, against four accused. It had earlier registered a suo motu case in the matter on February 5, 2021.
The searches were conducted today at the premises of JeI (J&K) members and supporters, at 16 locations, including 11 in District Baramulla in the Kashmir valley and the remaining 5 in District Kishtwar in the Jammu region.
Several incriminating materials and digital devices were seized during the searches and are being examined for more clues in the case.
NIA investigations so far have revealed that JeI (J&K) members had been collecting funds domestically and from abroad through donations, particularly in the form of zakat, mowda and bait-ul-mal, as well as for purported charitable purposes, such as the promotion of education and health.
Instead, the funds were being used for violent and secessionist activities in J&K. They were also being channelled to proscribed terrorist organisations, such as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and others, through well-organised networks of JeI cadres.
Further, as per the investigations, JeI was also engaged in motivating the impressionable youth of Kashmir and recruiting new members (Rukuns) in J&K to carry out violent, disruptive and secessionist activities.
Previous investigations by the NIA had revealed that one of the four arrested accused, identified as Javaid Ahmad Lone, had been soliciting funds and organising meetings in the name of JeI, J&K.
He had been delivering hateful anti-India speeches and exhorting people to make donations at these meetings.
Along with Aadil Ahmad Lone, he had also acquired firearms and ammunition with ulterior motives from the other two accused, identified as Manzoor Ahmad Dar and Rameez Ahmad Kondu, NIA stated.