journalist Bhat itifaq

*Hurriyat’s Rajbagh office to be attached under UAPA*

Srinagar: The office building of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) in Srinagar’s Rajbagh area is going to be attached by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the country’s anti-terror law, The Kashmir Walla has learnt.

The order passed by an NIA court in New Delhi was under the ‘NIA vs Mohammad Hafiz Saeed and others’ case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). In its application, the NIA claimed that there is sufficient evidence against Naeem Khan – the accused Hurriyat leader – who “partly owns the property”.

As per the documents accessed by The Kashmir Walla, the premier investigation agency submitted in the court that the “property was being used for planning and ex*****on of terrorist and secessionist activities” and for other offenses.

The agency invoked the provisions of Section 33 (1) of UAPA to seek attachment of the property.

The case has been registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code 120B, 121, 121A, and several sections of the UAPA, including 18, 20, 38, 39, and 40, against Hafiz, a Pakistan-based militant, members of the APHC, proscribed militant organizations like Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), and others for “funding of separatist and terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir”.

The order, issued by Shailender Malik, Additional Session Judge New Delhi, read that Khan, who was arrested on 24 July 2017, is alleged to have raised, received, and collected funds “domestically as well as abroad through various channels including Hawala for funding separatist and terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir”.

Citing several judgments, the court noted that section 24 expands the expression of the “proceeds of terrorism” and makes it clear that such expression shall also include “any property intended to be used for terrorism”.

Among the major points, the court also noted: “the APHC was the place where meetings were held to strategize different protests, funding activities of stone pelting on security forces, recruiting unemployed youths to carry out unlawfül activities as well as terrorist activities to create an unrest in the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir to wage war against the Government of India.”

The court further noted that the attachment doesn’t mean to be a “pre-trial conclusion” but “only include binding of a property which can be forfeited to the State”.

APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq continues to be under house arrest at his Nigeen residency since 5 August 2019 when the central government scrapped the limited autonomy of J-K and split the erstwhile state into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

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