New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency on Thursday said all separatist leaders arrested two days ago for funding terrorism in the Jammu and Kashmir Valley will be subjected to a polygraph test.
A senior official said that the polygraph, or lie detector test, will be conducted with the permission of a court. The seven Kashmiri separatists were sent to 10 days NIA-custody by a special court for interrogation on Wednesday.
Among those arrested were Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s son-in-law, Altaf Ahmad Shah, and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s aide, Shahid-ul-Islam.
Authorities said that they have summoned 30 more people, including close associates of Hurriyat leaders, stone pelters, middlemen and instigators, for questioning in probe that aims to establish the terror funding nexus with Pakistan. Geelani’s two sons - Nayeem and Naseem - are among those summoned by the NIA. They have been told to reach Delhi next week, sources said.
To probe the hawala link, NIA said it would also look at possible links with Dubai. The agency suspects goods smuggling as one of the means of fund transfer. “All links are subject to further investigation,” said the officer.
The investigators had also called in businessman Zahoor Watali for questioning in the flow of funds. Watali joined the investigation on Thursday. NIA had raided Watali’s properties in June as well.
Meanwhile, the BJP said the arrests by NIA would help choke terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir. “We welcome the arrests of separatists. The arrest of separatist leaders is a step towards choking terror funding. These measures will yield positive results in the coming days,” BJP spokesman Khalid Jahangir said.
He said it was a "much needed" move that has broken the financial backbone of separatists. "Separatists, and other anti-national forces which were receiving financial aid from across the border need to be tackled and the only way to control them is by cutting off their financial support," Jahangir said.
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