Srinagar
As the government moves against Kashmiri separatists with a string of cases on alleged “terror-funding”, a probe launched by the National Investigation Agency of India (NIA) last year on the same lines has failed to find any evidence and is “as good as closed”.
Last August, following street protests that rocked the Valley after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, the NIA initiated a preliminary enquiry to probe funds stoking unrest in the Valley. It was suspected that these funds were coming from across the border and were being channelised to stone-pelters through suspect bank accounts linked to militants or separatists in the Valley.
A year down the line, the agency has found that all transactions through these bank accounts were legitimate and not connected in any way to “terror funding”, Indian Express reported.
“No evidence of terror funding or financial aid to stone-pelters has been found in that case. All bank accounts that were brought under the scanner have been found to have had legitimate business transactions. That case is as good as closed,” the report quoted an NIA officer. The officer, however, said that the latest case of alleged “terror funding” of Hurriyat leaders, registered by the agency recently, is “going strong” and may result in some arrests soon.
In last year’s case, the NIA probed transactions amounting to approximately Rs 38 crore from 17 accounts in four banks of south Kashmir for links to militants or separatist groups. Over the year, NIA investigators tallied dates of withdrawal of money from these accounts with incidents of stone-pelting or road blockades in the Valley and conducted inquiries with holders of the suspect accounts, their relatives and bank officials to probe the source of funds. Nothing suspicious, sources said, has been found till date, the report said.
