The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a money laundering case against Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and his nine associates to probe cross-border terror funding trail, on the basis of a charge sheet filed by the National Investigations Agency (NIA) in a 2011 case.
The NIA probe had led to revelations of purported pumping of funds to the tune of Rs.13 crore under the garb of trade from Pakistan via the Line of Control (LoC) in the Uri sector and through hawala couriers besides formal banking routes. The agency found that the banned outfit had been providing funds to foment terror activities in the Kashmir Valley purportedly on the pretext of activities of the Jammu and Kashmir Affectees Relief Trust (JKAFT). While a case of alleged funding to terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen was registered in October 2011, two of the accused persons named Mohammad Shafi Shah and Talib Lali were also arrested.
Among the others named in the case were Syed Salahuddin, Gulab Nabi Khan, Umer Farooq Shera, Manzoor Ahmed Dar, Zaffar Hussain Bhat, Nazir Ahmd Dar, Abdul Majeed Sofi and Mubarak Shah, all presently suspected to be operating from Pakistan.
All the accused have also been named in the case now registered by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. “The probe will focus on locating the huge financing of terrorist activities by Hizbul Mujahideen from Pakistan to different terrorist organisations in India. Under the PMLA, the agency aims to attach and confiscate these financial assets related to terrorism. Besides, the ED aims to charge the accused persons under Section 4 of the PMLA that attracts a maximum of 7 years imprisonment,” said a source.
