New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed before Delhi High Court the bail plea moved by separatist leader Nayeem Ahmad Khan in a UAPA case of alleged terror funding.
According to Livelaw, Khan, who has been in judicial custody since August 14, 2017, has been accused of “creating unrest” in Kashmir by the NIA.
He was arrested on July 24, 2017.
The charges for various offences under Indian Penal Code (IPC), including sedition and UAPA were framed against Khan by a special NIA court on March 16 last year.
The report said that the central probe agency had submitted that evidence collected in the case clearly establishes a prima facie case against Khan and that he was involved in terrorist and funding activities.
The NIA has said that certain letters were found during search and seizure from Khan’s residence showing that he was getting students admitted for MBBS courses in Pakistan.
It said that this shows the involvement of applicants in terror funding out of commission earned from getting students admitted to MBBS courses in Pakistan.
The NIA said various videos have also been relied upon by NIA to allege that Khan was seen leading a “pro-ISIS rally” and “visiting areas where terrorists were killed”. The NIA has said that the videos have conversations by Khan about funding from Hizbul Mujahideen.
“Statement [of a defence witness] shows that a mega meeting was held at the residence of Syed Geelani in 2016 calling for shutdown after killing of Burhan Wani. At the same meeting, a calendar was also issued for protests and unrest in Jammu and Kashmir. This meeting was attended by Accused No.5 [Khan],” the response read.
It has further been submitted that Khan has not challenged the order framing charges against him and that the special court rightly concluded that there is sufficient oral and documentary evidence to believe that accusations against him are true.
“Thus, a prima facie case being made out against the Applicant and Section 43D(5) UAPA creates a statutory bar to grant of bail as the offences have been held to be prime facie true and that test has not been met by the accused in the Application for bail,” the reply read.
The matter would be heard on May 3 by a division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh.
The case alleges that there was a larger criminal conspiracy for causing disruption in Kashmir by way of “pelting stones on the security forces, systematically burning of schools, damage to public property and for waging war against India”.
The case has been registered under Sections 120B, 121, 121A and 124 A of the Indian Penal Code and sections 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 39, and 40 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967.
While denying him bail, the special NIA judge had noted that a detailed scrutiny of evidence and statements of various witnesses was done at the time of framing of charges and it was concluded that there is sufficient evidence available raising “grave suspicion” regarding Khan’s involvement.
The NIA had registered the FIR on a complaint by Ministry of Home Affairs alleging that based on “secret information” received from an informant, it was learnt that Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and various separatist leaders including the members of the Hurriyat Conference were raising funds “through hawala” and also had entered into conspiracy to cause violence in Kashmir.
Taking note of the fact that charges have already been framed against Khan, the judge had said that the court couldn’t re-appreciate the evidence at the stage of bail.
