SRINAGAR: Joint teams of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), J&K Police and CRPF searched properties belonging to members of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami at various locations in the Valley on Thursday and seized digital storage devices and sheaves of documents purportedly showing funds collected in the name of charity being funnelled into secessionist activities.
NIA started probing Jamaat's alleged charade of charity funding after a prod from the ministry of home affairs, which declared the outfit a banned organisation on February 28, 2019.
"Members of the organisation have been collecting funds domestically and abroad through donations, particularly in the form of zakat, mowda and bait-ul-mal, which are purportedly meant for charity and other welfare activities. But these funds are instead being used for secessionist activities, including violence," NIA said.
Money raised by Jamaat are also being passed on to Pakistan-backed terror outfits such as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba and others. Jamaat members have also been radicalising and recruiting local youth for "disruptive secessionist activities", an NIA official said.
The premises raided on Thursday include the residence of Farooq Ahmad Bhat alias Khaki, a resident of Chinar Bagh Pahroo on the outskirts of Srinagar and a senior functionary of Jamaat's Budgam unit. A mobile phone and a bank passbook were seized from the house.
Houses belonging to Jamaat members Khursheed Sanai and Bilal Ahmad Mir were also searched. In north Kashmir, NIA, police and CRPF teams raided the homes of Hafizullah Ganie, a resident of Chandkoot Kreeri, and Shoaib Mohammad Choor in Sangri Colony of Baramulla.