26 Oct 2017/Thursday

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) claimed Syed Shahid Yousuf, son of globally-wanted terrorist and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, had admitted he received funds for subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley. Yousuf, who was sent to seven days of custody to the agency for further questioning, had also given the names of overseas Hizbul Mujahideen members involved in fund-raising for the terror outfit, an NIA spokesman said. The 42-year-old Yousuf, who works in the agricultural department of the Jammu and Kashmir government "admitted to having received funds from cadres of the Hizbul Mujahideen on the direction of his father, Mohammed Yusuf Shah alias Syed Salahuddin, for fomenting terrorist activities in the Valley".The NIA has so far filed two charge sheets against six people including G M Bhat, a close aide of pro-Pakistan separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mohammed Siddiq Ganai, Ghulam Jeelani Liloo and Farooq Ahmed Dagga. All four are in judicial custody. Two others Mohammed Maqbool Pandit and Bhat  were also charge sheeted by the NIA but are absconding. An Interpol Red Corner notice has been issued against them. As indicated by NIA earlier there will be more such arrests regarding the alleged funding by Pakistan for illegal activities in Kashmir. Earlier Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmed Wattali, Mohammad Aslam Wani a close aide of separatist Shabir Shah and an alleged hawala dealer, seven hurriyat leaders - Altaf Shah, Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Mehraj Kalwal, Shahid-ul-Islam, Naeem Khan and Bitta Karate along with Sheikh Abdul Rashid, a PhD scholar at Kashmir University, Aala Fazil, the head of the Kashmir Traders’ and Marketing Federation Yaseen Khan and Hurriyat leaders Abdul Hameed Magrey and Wali Mohammad  were all summoned/arrested by NIA.

Viewpoint

There is ample evidence that the terrorist infrastructure remains substantially intact, particularly the financial system that funds this jihad, with its huge framework of global linkages. Despite the increased global scrutiny on the flow of funds for Islamist militants across the world, sufficient finances continue to flow to maintain the infrastructure for the jihad in J&K. This includes funding for recruitment, arming the militants, funds for training and camps, paying for their survival on the ground, maintenance of their families (both in J&K and Pakistan), and all associated operational needs. An estimated INR 250 to 300 million was being disbursed to terrorist and secessionist groups in J&K each month, from Pakistan. However, this does constitutes a 30 to 50 per cent decrease in what was being paid out earlier. This diminution has been gradual and is primarily linked to the ongoing decimation of the militant leadership and cadres within J&K, as well as factors such as the US monitoring of militancy funding from Pakistan.Each fidayeen (suicide cadre) selected for suicide attacks is assured by his handlers and the militant leadership that his entire family will be taken care of for years. Sources, however, disclose that relief money is paid to any deceased militant’s family for at least six months and there are accusations that some leaders of the secessionist group, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), swindle this money.The major contributor for this funding remains Pakistan through its external intelligence agency,(ISI).

The various methods employed for raising finances for terrorism in J&K include

- Fake Currency printed in Pakistan

- Collection of donations in some Middle Eastern and European countries under the name of ‘Jihad Funds’.

- Extortion from traders, contractors and affluent people in J&K.

- Money sent from Pakistan to militant and secessionist groups operating in J&K mainly through Hawala (parallel remittance system) and drug dealers.

- Some Kashmiri businessmen dealing in the trade of carpets, handicrafts, etc in Dubai.

- Hawala dealers in Mumbai and Delhi.

- Zakat (an Islamic tax) and donations.

 Dawood Ibrahim’s criminal network, which is currently headquartered in Pakistan, has close links with the LeT. Besides militants in J&K, a part of the fake Indian currency notes sourced from Pakistan is also "distributed among criminals and smugglers in different parts of the country mostly New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Lucknow etc., as the ISI also used services of these criminals occasionally to transport weaponry and explosive devices."Intelligence reports indicate that the Samjhauta Express, a train service which facilitates people-to-people contact between India and Pakistan, is being used by the ISI to circulate FICN and arms in India. According to intelligence sources in Punjab, the Samjhauta Express, which currently runs between Attari in India and Wagah in Pakistan, has "always been used by the ISI for smuggling weapons, currency, narcotics and spies into India." In recent times, a May 23, 2008, report indicated, there has been a big network of ISI-sponsored 'sawari' (courier) operators who lure poor people to smuggle their 'stuff' into India. These people are 'soft targets' for the ISI "which uses them for carrying out disruptive activities and providing logistic support to their existing terrorist modules in India. Karvan-e-Aman, the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service, is also a conduit for the transfer of funds for militants in J&K.