Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir’s State Investigation Agency (SIA) conducted raids at two places in Budgam district on Wednesday in a terror funding case, officials said.
“SIA conducted raids at two locations in Budgam district today. One of the places raided belongs to a car dealer while the other location belongs to a businessman,” an official said.
Sources said that the raids conducted by the SIA are part of the ongoing investigation into a terror funding case.
The SIA is a wing of the local CID and it carries out investigations into crimes related to terrorism. Hawala dealings, terror funding, and financial support to terrorists and terror networks are being investigated by the SIA.
The SIA has also investigated and subsequently presented charge sheets in the designated court against those involved in running and establishing communications for the terrorists.
It had carried out the investigation into the murder of advocate Babar Qadri killed by terrorists in his residence in the Hawal area of Srinagar city on September 2, 2020. A reward of Rs 10 lakh was announced by the SIA in 2023 to gather information about the killers of Qadri.
In 2021, the J&K Police claimed that Saqib Manzoor, a Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, was involved in the killing of Qadri. Manzoor was killed during an encounter in Srinagar along with another militant ‘commander’.
However, in 2022, the police raided the houses of three lawyers, including the residence of Mian Qayoom in Srinagar’s Barzulla area, in the case. The police had also zeroed in on five locals, including two jail inmates, in Srinagar in the case.
Before his murder, Qadri had accused the then High Court Bar Association (Kashmir) President, Mian Qayoom of planning a conspiracy to get him killed. The 80-year-old Mian Qayoom was subsequently arrested by a special investigation team (SIT) formed by the SIA. SIT claimed to have documentary and technical evidence about Mian Qayoom’s role in the murder of Qadri. A charge sheet, presented in the court, named Mian Qayoom as the principal conspirator in the murder.
