The National Investigation Agency (NIA) made the first arrest in connection with the NGO Terror financing case in Srinagar on Monday amid continued thorough investigations into the case, which was lodged in October 2020.
Irfan Mehraj, a close friend and employee of Khurram Parvez’s organization, the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies, has been named as the defendant, per the information (JKCCS).
Investigations at this time showed that the JKCCS was supporting terrorism in the valley and spreading a secessionist ideology there under the guise of defending human rights. According to sources, this investigation is also looking into certain Valley-based NGOs, Trusts, and Societies’ potential participation in supporting terrorism-related operations.
NGOs are said to have ties to terrorism.
Several NGOs, both registered and unregistered, have been seen raising money domestically and overseas while pretending to carry out charitable and other welfare operations including public health, education, and other things. Nevertheless, it has been discovered that some of these groups have connections to banned terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), etc.
SIA raids in J&K at several sites
In connection with a case involving the fund-raising efforts of Maulvi Sarjan Barkati, the target of “anti-national” rallies in 2016, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police conducted searches at eight locations on March 18.
An investigation into Barkati’s fund-raising activities as well as his “anti-national” comments was launched earlier this year by the SIA, a division of the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID).