Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah has admitted to being in regular touch with alleged 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, and the two spoke as recently as in January, the Enforcement Directorate said in a chargesheet filed in a Delhi court on Saturday.
Shah, who heads the separatist outfit Democratic Freedom Party, was arrested by the agency in July. The chargesheet also says he had links with terror outfits in Pakistan that were funding terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India, ANI reported.
His close aide and suspected hawala dealer Aslam Wani, who was arrested in August, disclosed receiving funds from a Pakistani hawala operator on Shah’s behalf in Delhi, the chargesheet said.
In an application submitted in the court earlier, the Enforcement Directorate had claimed that the separatist leader had been in continuous contact with “anti-national elements/terrorists residing in Pakistan” in the guise of discussing the unrest in the state. Call records of Shah’s mobile number revealed that he had contacts in Pakistan, Dubai and England, the agency said, adding that these need further investigation.
The case dates back to 2005 when the Delhi Police had arrested Wani, who had claimed he had siphoned off Rs 2.25 crore to Shah. After this, the Enforcement Directorate had registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against both. The agency had issued several summons to Shah, but he never deposed before them.
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