Syed Shahid Yousuf, son of the globally wanted terrorist Syed Salahuddin, received ₹4.5 lakh through international wire transfers between 2011 and 2014, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has found.
The agency has written to the J&K government informing it of the arrest of Yousuf, 42, who landed a job in the State Agriculture Department three years ago.
Asked if this was a sum large enough to be used for terror activities, a senior NIA official said that receiving any amount of money from an accused wanted in a terror case was punishable under Section 17 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Yousuf had received the money from Aijaz Ahmed Bhat, an accused in a 2011 terror funding case. Bhat has been absconding and is currently living in Saudi Arabia under another identity.
Yousuf was “one of several Indian contacts of Bhat” who had been in telephonic contact with him for receiving money transfer codes, the NIA says.
“Section 17 of the UAPA clearly states that notwithstanding whether such funds were actually used or not for commission of such act, it shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years and that may extend to imprisonment for life,” the official said.
Family plea
Yousuf’s family released a statement last week that the arrest was an “age-old tactic by the Delhi government to harass and defame the family”.
Salahuddin has five sons. A book authored by the former Research and Analysis Wing chief A.S Dulat says Salahuddin once requested the Intelligence Bureau’s station head in Srinagar to get one of his sons enrolled in a medical college in Kashmir. Another official said Yousuf received funds on the directions of his father and his direct links in using the funds to stoke the 2016 unrest in the Valley had not surfaced so far.
