The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday said that Syed Shahid Yusuf, the son of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, has admitted that he received funds to stoke terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
“During his questioning Syed Shahid Yusuf has admitted to have received funds from the cadres of Hizbul Mujahideen, on the direction of his father Syed Salahuddin, for fomenting terrorist activities in the Valley,” a senior official from the agency told Scroll.in.
On Thursday, the agency searched his home in central Kashmir’s Budgam district and seized five mobile phones, a laptop and a few documents, officials told PTI. Yusuf has been sent to seven days of police custody with the National Investigation Agency for questioning.
Yusuf, who works in the state’s agriculture department, was arrested on Tuesday because his name figured in a 2011 terror-funding case registered by the agency. The agency had said Syed Shahid Yusuf has been “receiving and collecting funds through international wire money transfer from Aijaz Ahmed Bhat,” an absconding member of the Hizbul Mujahideen.
A senior NIA official also said that Yusuf has revealed the names of his associates living abroad and linked with the Hizbul Mujahideen and those involved in raising, collecting and transferring funds from abroad to India.
In September, the NIA had searched 16 locations in various parts of Kashmir and Delhi as part of its investigation into alleged funding given to militants by Pakistan-based groups to create unrest in the Valley.
In July, seven separatist leaders, including Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s son-in-law Altaf Ahmed Shah, were arrested in connection with the case.
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