Srinagar: Hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani today alleged that the Centre was using National Investigating Agency (NIA) to frame Kashmiri people in false cases.
“The NIA has become a big problem for people of Jammu and Kashmir. The NIA has been given such wide powers that people can be arrested merely on the basis of suspicion and taken to Delhi,” Geelani told reporters here. He said earlier people arrested in connection with involvement in separatist activities were tried in local courts.
“However, now they can be arrested by NIA and taken to Delhi for trial in courts there. This is being done to sabotage the ongoing movement in Kashmir,” he added.
Geelani also alleged that the local officials of the NIA were harassing local businessmen and extorting money from them for not framing them in any case.
He said Pakistan and Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) should ensure protection of minorities as per the teachings of Islam in the areas under their control.