Delhi court sends Kashmiri separatists to 10-day NIA custody

New Delhi, July 25 (IANS) A court here on Tuesday remanded seven Kashmiri separatists, who were arrested on charges of receiving funds from Pakistan to sponsor terror activities and stone pelting in the Kashmir Valley, in NIA custody for 10 days.

During in-camera proceedings, Judge Poonam Bamba allowed the NIA to quiz Nayeem Khan, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Aftab Hilali Shah alias Shahid-ul-Islam, Ayaz Akbar Khandey, Peer Saifullah, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal and Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate till August 4.

Six of them were arrested from Srinagar and later flown to Delhi while Farooq Ahmad Dar was held in Delhi. They have been booked on charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against India.

Altaf Ahmad Shah is the son-in-law of hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who advocates Jammu and Kashmir’s merger with Pakistan, while Islam is a close aide of moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Ayaz Akbar is the spokesperson for the Geelani-led Hurriyat.