Hurriyat officials being used as ATMs? Terrorists even threaten Separatists for money, reveal documents.
- Several Hurriyat officials are currently in NIA custody for allegedly funding civil unrest in Kashmir.
- Letters written to Hurriyat members show terror funding in the Valley could be a two-way phenomenon.
- Terrorists demand range from a few thousand rupees to lakhs and include mobile phones as well.
Letters written to Hurriyat members on Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba letterheads, recovered by NIA during raids, reveal that terror funding in the Valley could be a two-way phenomenon, with LeT and HM cadres turning to separatists for finances from time to time.
The demands made on Hurriyat separatists by local LeT and Hizbul terrorists, citing dire need of finances on account of illness of fellow cadres and other problems, range from a few thousand rupees to lakhs and include mobile phones as well.
Several Hurriyat members are currently in NIA custody for allegedly funding civil unrest in Kashmir through active financial support from terror groups in Pakistan.
Perhaps the most interesting of these letters, is the one from one Mohd Amin Bhat, demanding Rs 5 lakh from Ayaz Akbar Khandey, a close aide of Tehreek-e Hurriyat chief Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
The letter, written on ‘The Jammu & Kashmir Hizbul Mujahideen’ letterhead, says Rs 5 lakh is urgently needed to tide over the immediate financial crunch arising out of demonetisation. It starts as a “request”, saying how extinguishing of old high-denomination currency has stopped “payments from outside”, but ends on a threatening note, asking Khandey to turn in the money in four days or face consequences that would extend to his family. Khandey is among the seven separatists arrested by NIA on Monday.
The post-demonetisation demand note in Urdu, carrying the signature and stamp of HM, when translated into English, reads: “We are in dire need of money at this time as we are not getting payments from outside due to present (security) situation and demonetisation. Your money will be returned on February 30. Inshallah we will wait for you for four days. If you do anything, then you’ll be responsible for yourself and family”.
