Terror funding case: NIA quizzes Hurriyat leader Geelani’s sons

The NIA on Tuesday questioned hardline Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s sons, Naeem and Naseem, as part of its probe into a money trail to expose how Pakistan sent cash to separatists for stoking unrest in the Kashmir Valley.

National Investigation Agency officials said the Geelani brothers arrived at the NIA headquarters here around 11 a.m. after evading the counter-terror agency’s earlier summons.

The NIA had issued summons to Naeem, a doctor who was once based in Pakistan, on July 27 and August 1. He failed to appear because he was hospitalised in Srinagar.

Geelani’s younger son Naseem, who works at an agricultural university in Srinagar, was summoned to appear before NIA on August 2.

He also did not come saying the notice should be served through Vice Chancellor of Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Agriculture Science so that he was permitted to take leave.

The NIA has arrested eight separatist leaders in connection with its probe into terror funding from Pakistan and militant groups based there.

The arrested separatists include Shabir Shah and Altaf Ahmad Shah, who is Geelani’s son-in-law. They have been booked on charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against India.