Srinagar: Upping the ante to combat terror, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) Saturday sealed Rs 112.89 crore worth properties of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) outfit throughout Jammu and Kashmir.
The government also seized the property of secessionist, late Syed Ali Geelani in Srinagar while the SIA said that the crackdown on terror financing would continue.
A statement of SIA issued here said that in Pulwama, Kulgam, Budgam, and Srinagar, properties at a dozen locations worth Rs 122.89 crore after being notified by the concerned District Magistrates on the recommendation of SIA J&K, have been barred with restrictions on usage and entry.
The statement said that to choke the availability of funds for secessionist activities and to dismantle the ecosystem of anti-national elements and terror networks hostile to India’s sovereignty, properties belonging and held by JeI, J&K at four districts of Pulwama, Kulgam, Budgam, and Srinagar have been notified by the concerned District Magistrates in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 8 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and Notification No 14017/7/2019 dated February 28, 2019, of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
It said that these premises and structures had been barred and entry and usage prohibited.
The statement said that ‘red entry’ to this effect has also been made in the relevant revenue records.
It said that during the seizure proceedings it was found that about a dozen business establishments in Kulgam including a shopping complex at Magam were currently running from these JeI properties on rent basis.
The statement said that after due diligence, it was decided that these would be allowed to continue so that private persons who may not have any connections with JeI and are only tenants paying rent to JeI, are not penalised and their livelihood not impaired.
It said that a search carried out in the house in district Srinagar figuring at paragraph three, registered in the joint ownership of late Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Firdous Ahmed Asmi, son of Ghulam Nabi Asmi of Eidgah, Srinagar, ground floor of which comprising four rooms with kitchen and two bedrooms for residential purposes as per rent deed has been occupied by one Shahzada Aurangzeb, son of Hakeem Ghulam Nabi of Moolu Chitragam, Shopian since November 2018.
The statement said that Shahzada Aurangzeb is himself a permanent member of Jel and has also served as Amir-e-Zila of district Shopian.
It said that he is presently working as Academic Officer at Jamait-u-Banaat, a women’s college affiliated with JKBOSE and University of Kashmir, Lal Bazaar, Srinagar from 2020.