J&K: NIA makes first arrest in NGO terror funding case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a close aide of a human rights activist in connection with its ongoing probe into an NGO terror funding case. An official gave this information on Tuesday.

An agency spokesperson said Irfan Mehraj, a resident of Srinagar, was the first accused arrested after a comprehensive probe in the NGO terror funding case registered in October 2020. He said Mehraj was a close associate of (human rights activist) Khurram Parvez, and his organization was based in Jammu and Kashmir. Mehraj was working with the Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS).

The agency alleged that the investigation revealed that JKCCS was funding terrorist activities and propagating a separatist agenda in the Valley under the guise of protecting human rights.

The spokesperson said that the involvement of some NGOs, Trusts and Societies of the Valley in funding terrorism-related activities is being probed in this case. The official said some registered and unregistered NGOs had been seen collecting funds in the country and abroad under the guise of charity and various welfare activities, including public health and education.

But some of these organizations have developed links with banned terrorist outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), the spokesperson said. Parvez was arrested by the NIA in November 2021 and charge-sheeted on May 13 the following year, along with six others, for alleged anti-national activities.

This included gathering information about important installations and the deployment and movement of security forces, procuring official secret documents and passing them on to Lashkar.