Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Feb 7: The State Investigation Agency (SIA) today raided the residence of jailed cleric Sarjan Barkati in Shopian district.
An official said that sleuths of SIA with the assistance of local police and CRPF carried out the raid at Sarjan Barkatis home in Reban village.
Barkati, who is also known as the “pied-piper of Kashmir” for his colourful separatist sloganeering against the Government, was arrested in August last year.
Last November, the SIA arrested his wife, Shabroza Bano, for her alleged role in the money laundering case.
The SIA had said Shabroza, along with her husband, was allegedly found involved in “terror financing” by raising money through crowd funding.
As per the SIA, the case FIR No 02/2023 under Section 13, 17, 18, 21, 39, 40 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 120-B Indian Penal Code, SIA pertains to the involvement of Barkati family in orchestrating an extensive fund-raising campaign through crowd funding, resulting in the generation of funds amounting to crores.
“During the investigation of SIA, Shabroza Bano came out as one of the conspirators and was found hand in glove with her husband and Pakistan based terror handlers in the terror funding case,” the agency had claimed.
Barkati is affiliated with Ummat e Islami Jammu and Kashmir, an outfit led by Mirwaiz South Kashmir Qazi Yasir. He spent four-years in jail in the wake of his alleged role in the 2016 widespread protests in South Kashmir. During this time, his family made fervent appeals for his release as they reportedly faced a difficult financial situation. He was released in October 2022 but was again arrested in September 2022 along with a few other religious clerics for about two months.
According to police, Barkati and his family had managed to raise approximately Rs 1.74 crore through crowdfunding campaigns. “These funds were raised for personal gains and a significant portion of the collected funds was allegedly misused for undisclosed purposes, including financing of secessionist and terrorist activities,” the police claimed.
The SIA alleged that Barkati was also involved in abetting youth to storm security forces establishments for which more than 30 FIRs were registered against him in various police stations of the Valley.
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