NEW DELHI: The (NIA) National Investigation Agency on Monday attached 17 properties of the financier of terrorism in J&K, Zahoor Ahmed Shah Watali, in the Hurriyat terror funding case in which JKLF commander Yasin Malik is currently undergoing life imprisonment.On orders from the Special NIA Court, Patiala House, the NIA today attached the 17 properties owned by Watali in the Handwara neighbourhood of Kupwara, Kashmir, in accordance with section 33(1) of the UA(P) Act.Along with Malik, 17 other individuals were charged in the case, which the NIA had suo moto registered on May 30, 2017. These individuals included Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the Amir of Jammat-ud-Dawah and top Commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Mohd Yusuf Shah alias Syed Salahuddin, the top Commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.In May 2022, Malik was found guilty of all the allegations brought against him and given a life sentence along with a fine.The case concerns terrorist and secessionist actions in Jammu and Kashmir by banned ISI-supported groups like LeT, JKLF, and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). By encouraging and carrying out attacks on civilians and security personnel, “these groups were sowing terror and committing violence in the valley,” according to the NIA.The All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), established in 1993, served as a front organisation for these illegal terrorist organisations to carry out and promote secessionist actions in Kashmir.Investigations into the case have shown that the secessionists, who have been charged as defendants in the case, including the APHC, engaged in a criminal conspiracy and adopted a strategy of inciting the general public to stir up unrest in the Kashmir valley and use violence as a last resort, according to the NIA.According to the NIA, Watali had been paying the Hurriyat leaders money he had collected from a variety of sources to encourage Jammu and Kashmir’s independence from the Union of India.According to NIA investigations, “Watali was a hawala conduit who was receiving money from Hafiz Saeed, a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” (SDGT) of the United States and a “listed global terrorist” of the UN.””Hafiz Saeed was the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks and the 2001 Parliament attack. Between 2011 and 2013, he received money transfers from abroad into a bank account totaling crores from a variety of sources. In addition, he had received international transfers in his proprietorship firm, M/s Trisson International, Srinagar, and mysterious transfers had also been discovered in his NRE bank accounts, according to the anti-terror agency.
According to the agency, Watali “had showed the sale of a 20 kanal parcel of land ostensibly owned by Watali’s company, M/s ‘Trison Farms and Constructions Pvt. Ltd.’ to one Naval Kishore Kapoor, a co-accused in the case.
Watali and his Trison Farms and Constructions Pvt Ltd were not listed as the owners of this block of land in the revenue records, according to the NIA investigations. The Special NIA Court in New Delhi is now trying Watali.
