Worries ahead for the former Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir Jatinder Singh alias Babu Singh as the Special Judge NIA Jammu framed charges against him in a terror funding case.
Special Judge NIA Jammu Jatinder Singh Jamwal framed charges against eight persons including the former minister Babu Singh, Mohd Shareef Shah, Fayaz Ahmad Bhat, Mubashir Mushtaq, Mohammad Rafiq, Aijaz Ahmad Sayam, Farooq Ahmad Naikoo, Mohd Arshad and Syed Ashiq Elahi in terror funding case.
According to the challan, the case was initially registered on March 31, 2022, at Police Station Gandhi Nagar. Subsequently, the investigation was transferred to the State Investigation Agency (SIA) for a comprehensive inquiry.
Alongside the initial charge-sheet filed by the investigation agency on September 24, 2022, four supplementary charge-sheets have been submitted in the case.
In the fourth supplementary charge-sheet filed on February 20, 2024, the investigation agency has implicated six additional individuals as accused, bringing the total number of accused persons to 18.
Notably, proceedings under Section 299 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) were initiated against three out of the 12 accused persons (who were arraigned as accused in the initial and first supplementary charge-sheets). These three individuals—Mohd Hussain Khateeb, Kifayat Rizvi, and Tariq Ahmad—are presently settled in and operating from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Unfortunately, their physical presence could not be secured for the purpose of investigation and trial. Consequently, the framing of charges has been limited to the remaining nine accused persons.
Head-constable of J&K Police was also arrested in this case
On January 2 this year, the SIA arrested a head constable from Kupwara in connection with a case involving narco-terror financing.
The constable, identified as Saif-ud-Din, served in the 4th battalion of the Indian Reserve Police (IRP) based in Kupwara.
Hailing from Doda and residing in Belicharana, he was apprehended after police collected evidence against him.
Saif-ud-Din had previously been detained for narcotics smuggling in Pathankot and was released on bail. Additionally, he faces a cheating case registered against him with the Crime Branch.
During investigations, Saif-ud-Din's involvement in transporting narcotics, cash, and other items emerged in connection with the narco-terror financing probe, which also involves former minister Jatinder Singh alias Babu Singh.
Ex-Minister Babu Singh was allegedly nvolved in terror funding module
Jatender Singh alias Babu Singh, a former MLA from Kathua and ex-minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was arrested from Kathua on April 9, 2022.
Singh's name surfaced in a terror funding case when Jammu and Kashmir on March 31, 2022, arrested four people who were part of a hawala racket.
According to police, Babu Singh was in touch with the terrorists of the Hizbul-Mujahideen terrorists. The amount was sent from Pakistan through their associates for Babu Singh's party.
In the investigation, it was revealed that Babu Singh was in contact with Mohammad Hussain Khateeb over encrypted social media applications and had clandestinely visited Dubai to arrange funds.
Mohammad Shareef Shah was designated as Secretary of this party, who received these funds in Kashmir through an unknown person and travelled to Jammu to hand over the money to Babu Singh.
The money was arranged by Mohammad Hussain Khateeb, an HM terrorist operating from Pakistan but Mohammad Shareef Shah was arrested before he could hand over the amount to Babu Singh.
Mohammad Shareef Shah had disclosed that he was tasked by Singh to collect money from a person named Omer in Srinagar. He revealed the names of his local and overseas associates — Javed and Khatib from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Farooq Khan from Toronto.
