J&K: NIA arrests chairman of Al Huda Educational Trust in terror funding case

The trust has been involved in raising funds after the JeI was declared as an unlawful association, an NIA official said.

New Delhi:The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested Mohammad Ameer Shamshi, chairperson of Al Huda Educational Trust (AHET) of Rajouri in J&K in an alleged terror funding case. The breakthrough was made after the anti-terror agency raided 18 locations in J&K including Rajouri, Poonch, Jammu, Srinagar, Bandipora, Shopian, Pulwama, and Budgam districts.

"Investigation has revealed that the arrested accused Ameer Shamshi is the chairperson (Nizam-e-Ala) of AHET and acts on the direction of the chief patron of the trust," a senior NIA official said. The investigation also revealed that the ex-officio chief patron of AHET is Ameer-e-Jamaat of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), which has already been declared as an unlawful association under the UAPA Act by the government.

"The trust has been involved in raising funds after the JeI was declared as an unlawful association. Suspect links with other NGOs and trusts operating in the Kashmir valley have also emerged during the investigation," the official said.

During the searches conducted on Tuesday, several mobile devices and incriminating documents related to funding, properties, etc. were also seized, the official said adding that JeI, in spite of its ban, has been continuing its activities through its frontal organization.

"AHET is one such frontal organization. It has been found raising funds through various means including donations, hawala, etc. purportedly for charitable purposes, but are instead using these funds to radicalize and incite the youths of J&K for unlawful activities and disrupt the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India," the official said.