NIA raids ancestral home of Jammu advocate

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday raided the ancestral home of Jammu and Kashmir advocate Devender Singh Behal, who was arrested here a day earlier over his links with hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Behal’s ancestral house is located in Nowshera town in Rajouri district.

As part of its crackdown on Kashmiri separatist leaders for their alleged involvement in funding terrorist activities, the NIA on Sunday raided Behal’s home in Bakshi Nagar in Jammu and took him into custody.

NIA sources said Behal, who is considered close to Geelani and is regularly seen at funerals of slain militants, was being questioned for his role in the terror funding.

Behal is Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Social Peace Forum (JKSPF), a constituent of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference led by Geelani.

Four mobile phones, a tablet, electronic devices and financial documents were recovered during the search operation on Sunday.

The NIA said Behal was a member of the legal cell of the Geelani-led Hurriyat.

According to the agency, it was investigating Behal’s role "as a courier as he is suspected to be involved in routing funds to the separatist leaders from Pakistan-based handlers".