JAMMU, Apr 6: In a major breakthrough, J&K
Police have busted a funding racket linked to a Kashmiri separatist group,
People’s League. On a tip off, district police, Kathua laid a naka party
at Lakhanpur, which intercepted on March 27 a Maruti Car No: DL-7C-3147
and recovered Rs 1.05 lakh from the car occupants. Unable to explain the
source of money, the police managed to lay their hand on a hidden box,
fabricated inside the car. Over Rs 17 lakh were recovered from the box.
This was for the first time that such a large amount of hawala money has
been recovered in Jammu region. The arrested hawala conduits have been
identified as Showkat Ahmed, R/o Shah Mohalla and Abdul Aziz, R/o Gowkadal,
Srinagar, Srinagar. The two during interrogation, by the police revealed
that the money was to be passed on to two terrorist groups operating from
Srinagar.
Tracing the hawala links further, the police
arrested Ghulam Mohd Khan alias Khan Sopori of Channapora Srinagar, the
acting chairman of the separatist People’s League (Farooq Rehmani
Group). Some incriminating documents, reports said, were recovered from
him which detailed how the hawala funding of militants was operating. Khan
Sopori and his associates have been receiving large amounts of money from
Pakistan for distribution among the militants in the Valley. Sources added
that Sopori used to send boys to Delhi for collecting money after getting
a message on internet that “aadmi tayar hai” (man is ready).
The details of money paid to militant outfits were fed by him in the
computer. Earlier the two conduits had brought Rs 12 lakh from Delhi to
Kashmir. For this they were paid Rs 50,000 by Sopori. Showkat and Majid
were sent by Sopori to contact a person in Delhi, who conveyed the
instructions of Farooq Rehmani and also handed over the money. Showkat
Ahmed is also reported to be a PL activist. The reports said that Showkat,
an employee of the Sheep Husbandry department has already visited Pakistan
twice and brought huge consignments of money for militant and political
outfits. The same reports added that Showkat has been getting assistance
in subversive activities from his close relations, serving in senior
positions in the State government. Immediately after the busting of the
racket, three more links in the chain Nazir Payami (Sonawar), Rashid of
Kolpora (Pulwama) Rafeek-ul-Islam and Gh Mohd Gaash from Chrar-i-Sharif,
as per official sources have gone underground. Sopori’s new house is
located beside the headquarters of Hurriyat Conference in Rajbagh.
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