A Delhi court on Friday sent Kashmiri separatists Shabir Shah, Asiya Andrabi and Masarat Alam Bhat, who were arrested by National Investigation Agency in a terror funding case last week, to judicial custody till July 12, PTI reported.
Special Judge Rakesh Syal sent the three separatist leaders to custody after the NIA did not want to seek further custodial interrogation, lawyer MS Khan, who appeared for the accused, told the news agency.
Andrabi had requested the court to appear before it through video conference for the next hearing because of her poor health. The court asked the defence counsel to approach the concerned court in this regard after vacation, IANS reported.
On June 4, the National Investigation Agency arrested the three during in-chamber proceedings in the court of Judge Rakesh Syal. They were then sent to the agency’s custody for ten days.
Andrabi and Shah were already in jail in separate cases. Andrabi is in jail for allegedly waging a war against the country and delivering hate speeches in Jammu and Kashmir. Shah has been imprisoned in a decade-old case of terror financing. The three are accused of carrying out terrorist and secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir. The NIA has filed a chargesheet against 12 others, including Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, in the case.
The others being investigated are Hurriyat leader Syed Shah Geelani’s son-in-law Altaf Ahmed Shah, Geelani’s personal assistant Bashir Ahmad Bhat, Hurriyat Conference media advisor and strategist Aftab Ahmad Shah, National Front chief Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (R) Chairperson Farooq Ahmad Dar, media advisor of Hurriyat Conference (Geelani faction) Mohammad Akbar Khanday, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat official Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal, hawala operator Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watal and two people accused of pelting stones at security forces.
The investigating agency said it registered the case on May 30, 2017, and the first arrests were made on July 24 that year. The agency said it interrogated more than 300 people. It alleged that the accused were orchestrating violence in Jammu and Kashmir as a part of their “well-planned” criminal conspiracy, backed and funded by groups operating from Pakistan.
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