Terrorists of 1990s make a comeback as backend operators
NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency may have launched another probe into alleged funding links between the Hurriyat, its Pak-based sponsors and acts of arson in the Valley, but neither of this is unchartered territory for sleuths. What's of interest is how the old hardcore Kashmiri terrorist of 1990s is making a comeback through a new role in the backend.
The contours of this changing plot first bared itself in 2011 when NIA arrested Ghulam Mohammed Bhat, legal advisor to separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who had then floated his own front called Tehreeki-Hurriyat. The arrest happened a year after the 2010 round of protest and stone-pelting that paralysed normal life in the Valley for months. It came to light that Bhat had received little over Rs 2 crore between 2009 and early 2011 from sources in Pakistan through hawala channels. The trial in the case is still on. Individuals who had fled to become militants in the 1990s with the Hizbul Mujahideen and related outfits were now part of the financing network. This role gave them fresh relevance. The classic case here was that of Mohammed Maqbool Pandit, who fled to Pakistan two decades ago. He was handling the Pakistan end of this network which allegedly led up to Geelani through Bhat.
Maqbool's daughter is, incidentally, married to Bhat's son. Maqbool used his daughter's phone frequently to convey messages to the Indian end. The first red flag came up in 2007 when a Tata Sumo was intercepted in Udhampur on its way to Srinagar with around Rs 46 lakh cash stashed in the CNG cylinder. Questioning of the couriers revealed that the money was handed over by Bhat who was to receive it himself at Srinagar for onward delivery to Geelani. The cash packaging also bore Hizbul Mujahideen stamp.
Bhat's premises were raided, he was placed under detention, but the case couldn't be fully rounded off. In 2011, he was picked up red-handed receiving money at Bemina Bypass, Srinagar, along with one Mohammed Sidiq Ginai, who too had gone to Pakistan in the 1990s. Ginai later revealed that one Col Abdullah and Major Iqbal of the ISI were his handlers in Pakistan until he was sent back via Nepal. Ginai had known Maqbool and teamed up with him in the latest enterprise to move money to the separatists, claimed the NIA chargesheet.
Maqbool, it appeared never returned to India since he fled, and along with one Aijaz Ahmed Bhat, again a face from the 1990s, worked to raise funds in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Aijaz, according to NIA, later shifted to Jeddah, so as to help route the funds from Pakistan to India via Saudi Arabia.
The big picture is something like — terrorists of the 1990s yore, well past their prime as ‘fighters', are networked to run this show. Maqbool Pandit in Pakistan, Aijaz Bhat in Saudi Arabia, Ginai in Delhi and Ghulam Mohammed Bhat in Srinagar, allegedly last link to the Geelani-led separatist group. There's an interesting sub-plot in this run by Ginai in Delhi. This involved Raj Kumar, an unknown family man in financial distress. Ginai befriended him, helped him with finances to wed his daughter, later paid for emergency hospitalisation in Jaipur. In return, Raj Kumar would make the hawala collections for Ginai to avoid detection. He ended up collecting Rs 2.25 crore since 2008 for Ginai. The other target was Kumar's brother-in-law Rajeev Nankani, who was in bad debt after losing Rs 7 lakh in IPL betting games. He too was deployed to avoid detection.
Maqbool and Aijaz Bhat, though identified as absconders, remain at large outside India, while the case continues. The worry for agencies is that the ones oiling the supply chain are the hardcore terrorists of 1990s.
