Terror-funding case: The Special Investigation Agency (SIA) has arrested two more people, including a policeman, for allegedly being involved in a cross-border narcotic syndicate involved in terror funding, officials said on Wednesday.
The officials further said that the arrest of Selection grade constable Saif-ud-din from Jammu and former sarpanch Farooq Ahmad Jungal from Uri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district increases the overall count of individuals implicated in the case to 17.
SIA chargesheet against 12 accused
The SIA discovered the syndicate during an inquiry into a hawala case related to former minister and Nature-Mankind Friendly Party chairman Jatinder Singh, also known as "Babu Singh." Singh was arrested in April 2022 after one of his worker’s Mohammad Shareef Shah, a resident of south Kashmir’s Kokernag, was held along with hawala money of Rs 6.90 lakh in Jammu.
The SIA had earlier filed a charge sheet against 12 individuals, including the former minister, in this case. Nine of the accused are incarcerated in Central jail, while three fugitives are believed to be in Pakistan.
SIA raid in Belicharana
A team of SIA raided the house of the policeman in the Belicharana area in the outskirts of the city on Tuesday (January 2). The investigating team also seized some electronic gadgets. Further investigation is in progress to dismantle the ecosystem of narcotics supplies to fund anti-national activities.
The officials mentioned that earlier also the police officer had been charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act when he was apprehended with 200 grams of heroin in the Shahpur Kandi area of Pathankot.
The role of the policeman and the former sarpanch came to light following the arrest of key accused Mohd Sharief Chechi, also a resident of Uri, in September last year.
After taking over the investigation of the case, the official said SIA unearthed the modus operandi adopted by the accused, including Chechi who used to collect narcotics from across the Line of Control to generate proceeds for terror funding.
The case was initially registered at Police Station Gandhi Nagar in Jammu following the arrest of Shah on specific information that he along with the former minister were working under the directions of Pakistan’s ISI and their agents to fund Jammu-based separatists to carry out subversive activities, the officials said.
(With PTI inputs)
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