Operation terror funding

Ramesh Chandra G anjoo

Syeed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq It is always better late than never. Could National Investigation Agency (NIA) rapid action on terror funding be considered the last nail in the coffin of terrorists , active since 1989 in Jammu and Kashmir state . Experts on insurgency operations are unanimous that the raids, though delayed, held the bull of terror by horn . Believe it or not, separatists organizations funding terrorists were caught by surprise on May 30 when NIA exposed the terror funding nexus, the root cause of terror activities in Kashmir. According to NIA report

Shabir Shah under arrest

Nayeem Khan, Farooq Dar @ Bitta Karate, separatists arrested by NIA separatist leaders in connivance with Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e- Toiba and other militant groups and woman separatist group Dukhtarane- Millat were involved in raising, receiving and collecting funds through various illegal means including hawala .
It is a "rule of a thumb" that no political, social, separatists or terrorist activities can sustain unless having legal or illegal funding from known or unknown channels or sources.
The NIA swung into action on the confessions made by Hurriyat leader Nayeem Khan on TV Channel about terror money inflow in Jammu and Kashmir in a sting operation on May 16. After search operations conducted by NIA at 23 locations in Kashmir, Delhi and Haryana. NIA collected abundant evidences and documents pertaining to money laundering for terrorist activities and subsequently invoked 13, 18 Indian Penal Code Sections 120 b, 121, 121 of the CrPC, and Sections, 20, 38 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. NIA arrested Sayed Ali Shah Geelani son-in law Altaf Ahmad Shah and his two sons Dr Nayeem

Altaf Fantoosh Shah and Dr Naseem Shah with others Ayaz Akbar Khandey, Peer Saifullah ( close aide of Geelani), Nayeem Ahmad Khan ( chief of Jammu & Kashmir National Front),

Dr Syed Naseem Geelani Farooq Ahmad @ Bitta Karate, JKLF leader, Altaf Hilali Shah ( aide of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq ) and Shabir Shah ( President of Democratic Freedom Party) along with Deputy Superintendent of Police Faheem Ali and a part time lawyer and Chairman Jammu

Ayaz Akbar

Shaid-ul-islam

Mehraj Kalwal Kashmir Social Peace Forum (JKSPF), a constituent of Hurriyat Devender Singh Behl from Jammu. The team has recovered from Behl , 4 mobile phones, 1 tablet, electronic devices, incriminating documents, financial papers and some other articles. The recoveries have been sent to Computer Emergency Response Team (CERTIn)

Peer Saifullah which will analyse the forensic and technical data.
I n s imu l t a n e o u s searches carried out by the E n f o r c eme n t Directorate on Aug 10 at the office and residence of a prominent travel operator Al- Khudam Tour and Travels owned by Sheikh Feroz Ahmad in Srinagar . Cash worth Rs 1.5 crore and property-related documents, letterheads of banned terrorist organisations such as LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen were recovered.
Al-Khudam has innovated a novel route of money laundering from overseas to support Kashmiri separatist. He would book bulk tours from Pakistani agencies while sitting in UK, US, Middle East and other Nations. As per rules they had to pay complete amount in advance. Later all these booking would be cancelled with no refund . Al-Khudam Tour and Travels would transfer that money to separatists after charging certain percentage as commission. NIA in its raid has arrested a businessman Zahoor Watali, younger brother of former IG Kashmir A M Watali, Benami properties documents, bank accounts and funding channels that runs in crores were recovered from his offices and houses in Srinagar, Greater Kailash, Sanik Farm House and Chitranjan Park .

DSP Faheem Ali According to intelligence sources, NIA has identified about 150 people in which bureaucrats, police officials, politicians and social activities are involved, directly or indirectly, in money laundering racket.
Pakistan-based terror groups has been financing terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir by generating millions in donations through their charity organisat ions-Falah-e- Insaniat Foundation (FIF), a charity run by terror outfits Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Hafiz Sayeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Al Rehmat Trust, backed by another terrorists group Jaish-e- Mohammed (JeM).
According to Arvind Negi SSP, (NIA) "we are watching the activities of JuD, LeT and JeM and also the working of trusts associated with them in Kashmir." In Mumbai terrorist attack of November 26, 2008, the Intelligence Bureau had reportedly concluded that approximately Rs 1,17,37,820 were spent by Pakistan state sponsored terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba for the execution of these attacks.

Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali sent to NIA custody in terror funding case But chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on cracks down on the Hurriyat's source of illegal funding, came with a politically loaded statement. She called the arrest of seven Hurriyat leaders an "administrative decision". "NIA arrests do not solve any problems.... We have seen so many allegations being made against separatists leaders over the years but nothing has happened. It's good they're being held accountable but this doesn't help solve the real issues," she said.
This is not the first time that such raids have been carried out in the Valley. In December 2002, Jammu and Kashmir police had arrested 16 persons on charges of channelling hawala funds to militant organisations through the cover of their legitimate businesses. Among those raided were prominent businessman Iqbal Bukhari, father of current J&K education minister Altaf Bukhari and Baramulla businessmen Samir Ahmad Lone.

Part time lawyer Devender Singh Behl in NIA custody Altaf Bukhari and his father Iqbal Bukhari @ Iqbal Diethene were caught in 1991-92 by CBI in Hawala racket ( 1990-91). The story of Iqbal Diethene @ Bukhari came to light when Prof Shiekh of Physics department Amar Singh college, Srinagar and Mufti Mehraj U Din, NC activist and former Attorney General High court Srinagar were caught on the tip of Kathamundu as ISI agents who had a plan to cover business to send Kashmiri boys to Pak and get them trained back via Nepal route. They disclosed that Iqbal Diethene was known conduit for funding anti India movement in Kashmir. Shabir Ahmed Shah, Prof Gani, SAS Gillani, AG Lone were regular visitors in his house at F-31 Sanik Farm New Delhi. He used to host dinners and wazwan for Kashmiri separatist whenever they were in Delhi.
In 2006, Delhi police slapped charges of funding and supplying weapons to militants on Nasir Shafi Mir, a Dubai-based Kashmiri businessman close to Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Similarly, in 2011, J&K police arrested Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, a close associate of Geelani and claimed that it had seized Rs 21 lakh from him.
Muzaffar Beg ,MP( PDP) told Power Politics, " to break this ferocious cycle, the centre needs to show equal resolve in fighting terrorists and respecting ordinary Kashmiris."
It is important to know the modus operandi of terror groups funding through LoC trade. Some traders from Kashmir import 21 items at a very low cost and sell at higher cost. They use the profits to fund subversive activities in India. Drugs-for-arms and money laundering are fundamentally linked to destabilise the political and financial stability of state .
Militants and extremists have a nexus with criminal networks involved in dealing with drugs and arms. The main sources of funding are - State Sponsored (such as ISI),

funding generated from narcotics with the help of terrorist organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul-Mujahideen which is in the range of million dollars . Pakistan has appointed one retired Brigadier Ahmed Iqbal to monitor the funding channel from cross border trade.
In the name of Kashmir trade " Money Laundering" has become a more lucrative and profiting industry than genuine business in which top businessmen from Delhi have been found involved. Owner of chain of hotels, married to Pakistani girl, 10 years ago with Sofia ( Name is changed due to security reasons) whose business partner happens to be one Indian Muslim lady Suriya
( name is changed due to security reasons) as a front person, runs a business of branded ladies suits being imported from Pakistan under the garb of Kashmir trade via LoC , Uri on less values and sell them at exorbitant rates in India . The profit is distributed accordingly and a portion is primarily put aside for terror funding .
Pakistani designers show rooms have been set up in Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, and Hyderabad states.
A few months ago goods worth Rs 7.5 crore were imported from Pakistan via LoC by Suriya . The suppliers of women wear from Pakistan is one Kaka from Lahore , Tasleem and Shahzad Qureshi from Lahore who work under ISI directive. Here in India, Sahid Chua, Natiya , Dulha Bhai, Jabbar , Haji Ferooze and Siraj. Iqbal Kanna further facilitate to reach Hawala money to right quarters . In Lahore, drug, fake currency , weapon and garment rackets under the control of Iqbal Kanna are taken care of unlawful business by his henchman Shahid Chua and his brother Arshad in India. According to intelligence sources , all of them have been put on surveillance network after NIA had conducted raids in Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Haryana and other places including business houses.
One businessman from Rampur who is in touch with his masters in Pakistan, has been travelling to Pakistan very frequently for the last over five years. His stay is always at Lahore to get brief from his master in person from time to time.
Evidence available with intelligence agencies confirms that from Al-Qaeda to Daesh the real challenge involves the free flow of legal and illegal funds. Until today, the international community has failed to sever their financial lifeline.



		EDITOR'S MAIL MATTERS OF PUBLIC POLICY NIA ACTS LANDMARK VERDICT HISTORIC JUDGEMENT MODINAMA REALPOLITIK ECONOMIC SCENE FRANKLY SPEAKING JAYALALITHAA LEGACY JAYALALITHAA LEGACY CHANDIGARH DIARY AMERICAN DIARY MEDICAL ADVANCEMENT HITS & MISSES CRICKET DIARY BOOK BAZAAR BOOK BAZAAR SIGNS OF THE TIMES MISSING ROAD SENSE YOGA IN DAILY LIFE FILM-MAKING ART OF LIVING Issue:Sep' 2017 Subscribe Now	NIA ACTS Operation terror funding Ramesh Chandra G anjoo Syeed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq It is always better late than never. Could National Investigation Agency (NIA) rapid action on terror funding be considered the last nail in the coffin of terrorists , active since 1989 in Jammu and Kashmir state . Experts on insurgency operations are unanimous that the raids, though delayed, held the bull of terror by horn . Believe it or not, separatists organizations funding terrorists were caught by surprise on May 30 when NIA exposed the terror funding nexus, the root cause of terror activities in Kashmir. According to NIA report Shabir Shah under arrest Nayeem Khan, Farooq Dar @ Bitta Karate, separatists arrested by NIA separatist leaders in connivance with Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e- Toiba and other militant groups and woman separatist group Dukhtarane- Millat were involved in raising, receiving and collecting funds through various illegal means including hawala . It is a "rule of a thumb" that no political, social, separatists or terrorist activities can sustain unless having legal or illegal funding from known or unknown channels or sources. The NIA swung into action on the confessions made by Hurriyat leader Nayeem Khan on TV Channel about terror money inflow in Jammu and Kashmir in a sting operation on May 16. After search operations conducted by NIA at 23 locations in Kashmir, Delhi and Haryana. NIA collected abundant evidences and documents pertaining to money laundering for terrorist activities and subsequently invoked 13, 18 Indian Penal Code Sections 120 b, 121, 121 of the CrPC, and Sections, 20, 38 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. NIA arrested Sayed Ali Shah Geelani son-in law Altaf Ahmad Shah and his two sons Dr Nayeem Altaf Fantoosh Shah and Dr Naseem Shah with others Ayaz Akbar Khandey, Peer Saifullah ( close aide of Geelani), Nayeem Ahmad Khan ( chief of Jammu & Kashmir National Front), Dr Syed Naseem Geelani Farooq Ahmad @ Bitta Karate, JKLF leader, Altaf Hilali Shah ( aide of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq ) and Shabir Shah ( President of Democratic Freedom Party) along with Deputy Superintendent of Police Faheem Ali and a part time lawyer and Chairman Jammu Ayaz Akbar Shaid-ul-islam Mehraj Kalwal Kashmir Social Peace Forum (JKSPF), a constituent of Hurriyat Devender Singh Behl from Jammu. The team has recovered from Behl , 4 mobile phones, 1 tablet, electronic devices, incriminating documents, financial papers and some other articles. The recoveries have been sent to Computer Emergency Response Team (CERTIn) Peer Saifullah which will analyse the forensic and technical data. I n s imu l t a n e o u s searches carried out by the E n f o r c eme n t Directorate on Aug 10 at the office and residence of a prominent travel operator Al- Khudam Tour and Travels owned by Sheikh Feroz Ahmad in Srinagar . Cash worth Rs 1.5 crore and property-related documents, letterheads of banned terrorist organisations such as LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen were recovered. Al-Khudam has innovated a novel route of money laundering from overseas to support Kashmiri separatist. He would book bulk tours from Pakistani agencies while sitting in UK, US, Middle East and other Nations. As per rules they had to pay complete amount in advance. Later all these booking would be cancelled with no refund . Al-Khudam Tour and Travels would transfer that money to separatists after charging certain percentage as commission. NIA in its raid has arrested a businessman Zahoor Watali, younger brother of former IG Kashmir A M Watali, Benami properties documents, bank accounts and funding channels that runs in crores were recovered from his offices and houses in Srinagar, Greater Kailash, Sanik Farm House and Chitranjan Park . DSP Faheem Ali According to intelligence sources, NIA has identified about 150 people in which bureaucrats, police officials, politicians and social activities are involved, directly or indirectly, in money laundering racket. Pakistan-based terror groups has been financing terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir by generating millions in donations through their charity organisat ions-Falah-e- Insaniat Foundation (FIF), a charity run by terror outfits Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Hafiz Sayeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Al Rehmat Trust, backed by another terrorists group Jaish-e- Mohammed (JeM). According to Arvind Negi SSP, (NIA) "we are watching the activities of JuD, LeT and JeM and also the working of trusts associated with them in Kashmir." In Mumbai terrorist attack of November 26, 2008, the Intelligence Bureau had reportedly concluded that approximately Rs 1,17,37,820 were spent by Pakistan state sponsored terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba for the execution of these attacks. Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali sent to NIA custody in terror funding case But chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on cracks down on the Hurriyat's source of illegal funding, came with a politically loaded statement. She called the arrest of seven Hurriyat leaders an "administrative decision". "NIA arrests do not solve any problems.... We have seen so many allegations being made against separatists leaders over the years but nothing has happened. It's good they're being held accountable but this doesn't help solve the real issues," she said. This is not the first time that such raids have been carried out in the Valley. In December 2002, Jammu and Kashmir police had arrested 16 persons on charges of channelling hawala funds to militant organisations through the cover of their legitimate businesses. Among those raided were prominent businessman Iqbal Bukhari, father of current J&K education minister Altaf Bukhari and Baramulla businessmen Samir Ahmad Lone. Part time lawyer Devender Singh Behl in NIA custody Altaf Bukhari and his father Iqbal Bukhari @ Iqbal Diethene were caught in 1991-92 by CBI in Hawala racket ( 1990-91). The story of Iqbal Diethene @ Bukhari came to light when Prof Shiekh of Physics department Amar Singh college, Srinagar and Mufti Mehraj U Din, NC activist and former Attorney General High court Srinagar were caught on the tip of Kathamundu as ISI agents who had a plan to cover business to send Kashmiri boys to Pak and get them trained back via Nepal route. They disclosed that Iqbal Diethene was known conduit for funding anti India movement in Kashmir. Shabir Ahmed Shah, Prof Gani, SAS Gillani, AG Lone were regular visitors in his house at F-31 Sanik Farm New Delhi. He used to host dinners and wazwan for Kashmiri separatist whenever they were in Delhi. In 2006, Delhi police slapped charges of funding and supplying weapons to militants on Nasir Shafi Mir, a Dubai-based Kashmiri businessman close to Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Similarly, in 2011, J&K police arrested Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, a close associate of Geelani and claimed that it had seized Rs 21 lakh from him. Muzaffar Beg ,MP( PDP) told Power Politics, " to break this ferocious cycle, the centre needs to show equal resolve in fighting terrorists and respecting ordinary Kashmiris." It is important to know the modus operandi of terror groups funding through LoC trade. Some traders from Kashmir import 21 items at a very low cost and sell at higher cost. They use the profits to fund subversive activities in India. Drugs-for-arms and money laundering are fundamentally linked to destabilise the political and financial stability of state . Militants and extremists have a nexus with criminal networks involved in dealing with drugs and arms. The main sources of funding are - State Sponsored (such as ISI), funding generated from narcotics with the help of terrorist organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul-Mujahideen which is in the range of million dollars . Pakistan has appointed one retired Brigadier Ahmed Iqbal to monitor the funding channel from cross border trade. In the name of Kashmir trade " Money Laundering" has become a more lucrative and profiting industry than genuine business in which top businessmen from Delhi have been found involved. Owner of chain of hotels, married to Pakistani girl, 10 years ago with Sofia ( Name is changed due to security reasons) whose business partner happens to be one Indian Muslim lady Suriya ( name is changed due to security reasons) as a front person, runs a business of branded ladies suits being imported from Pakistan under the garb of Kashmir trade via LoC , Uri on less values and sell them at exorbitant rates in India . The profit is distributed accordingly and a portion is primarily put aside for terror funding . Pakistani designers show rooms have been set up in Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, and Hyderabad states. A few months ago goods worth Rs 7.5 crore were imported from Pakistan via LoC by Suriya . The suppliers of women wear from Pakistan is one Kaka from Lahore , Tasleem and Shahzad Qureshi from Lahore who work under ISI directive. Here in India, Sahid Chua, Natiya , Dulha Bhai, Jabbar , Haji Ferooze and Siraj. Iqbal Kanna further facilitate to reach Hawala money to right quarters . In Lahore, drug, fake currency , weapon and garment rackets under the control of Iqbal Kanna are taken care of unlawful business by his henchman Shahid Chua and his brother Arshad in India. According to intelligence sources , all of them have been put on surveillance network after NIA had conducted raids in Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Haryana and other places including business houses. One businessman from Rampur who is in touch with his masters in Pakistan, has been travelling to Pakistan very frequently for the last over five years. His stay is always at Lahore to get brief from his master in person from time to time. Evidence available with intelligence agencies confirms that from Al-Qaeda to Daesh the real challenge involves the free flow of legal and illegal funds. Until today, the international community has failed to sever their financial lifeline.