State Investigation Agency (SIA) of Jammu and Kashmir conducted raids at two places in Budgam district on Wednesday in a terror funding case, officials said.
“SIA raided two places in Budgam today. One of the places raided is of a car dealer and the other is of a businessman,” an official said.
Sources said that the SIA raids are part of the ongoing investigation in a terror funding case.
SIA is a wing of local CID and it investigates crimes related to terrorism. Hawala dealings, terror funding and financial support to terrorists and terror networks are being investigated by SIA.
SIA has also investigated and presented charge sheets in the court against those involved in running and establishing communication for the terrorists.
It had investigated the murder of advocate Babar Qadri who was killed by terrorists in his residence in Hawal area of Srinagar city on September 2, 2020. A reward of Rs 10 lakh was announced by SIA in 2023 to get information about the killers of Qadri.
In 2021, 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, police raided the houses of three lawyers, including the residence of Mian Qayoom in Srinagar’s Barzulla area, in the case. Police 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. 80-year-old Mian Qayoom was subsequently arrested by a special investigation team (SIT) formed by 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.
