Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 26: National Investigation Agency (NIA) today raided the house of Shahid Yousuf, son of Hizb ul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, in Soibugh village of Central Kashmir’s Budgam district.
An NIA team raided the residence of Shahid Yousuf around 4:30 am and left after couple of hours. They took some cell phones and a laptop along with them during around two hours raid.
The raid was conducted two days after the arrest of Shahid by the NIA in a case of alleged funding of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.
The raid was completed before the first light to prevent any law and order problem in the village. The police team from Budgam accompanied the NIA while the local police post was not informed about the raid.
The 42-year-old Shahid, who works in the Agricultural department, was summoned to the NIA headquarters where he was arrested after questioning yesterday.
The case dates back to 2011 when foreign money was allegedly pumped into Kashmir to fund terror activities. The NIA revived the investigation recently, even though the case is under trial in a city Court.
Besides them, two others – Mohammed Maqbool Pandit and Aijaz Ahmed Bhat – have also been chargesheeted by the NIA but both of them were absconding.
The allegations in the case are that money from Pakistan is being sent to Jammu and Kashmir through Hawala channels via Delhi and it is suspected that it is being used to fund militancy and other activities in the State.
According to NIA, Yusuf was in contact of Aijaz Ahmad Bhat, the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist based in Saudi Arabia.
As per the agency Shahid was “one of several Indian contacts of Bhat” who had been in telephonic contact with him for receiving money transfer codes.
The NIA said that so far Shahid has received a total of nearly Rs 4.5 lakh through eight international wire transfers.
Shahid Yousuf was summoned by the agency to New Delhi for questioning on October 16 in a case registered against Hizbul Mujahideen in Delhi.
The family of Shahid issued a statement saying: “We have never been involved in any terror funding activities in the State, and our record during past 28 years is crystal clear and can be verified by the police and CID. Our brother Shahid Yousuf is a peaceful citizen, and NIA has incriminated him in absolutely fake charges of terror funding to pressurise our father. Our right to live peacefully is being snatched by State and Central Governments.”
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