Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): The Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) has arrested Sarjan Ahmad Wagay alias Barkati, a prominent face of the 2016 Kashmir unrest after the killing of a leading militant commander, on charges of propagating radicalism in the valley and money laundering among others, local inputs said on Tuesday.
According to the local inputs, Barkati has been arrested by the Kashmir wing of the SIA in Case FIR No 02/2023 of police station SIA. The case pertains to Barkati's involvement in orchestrating an extensive fund-raising campaign through crowd funding, resulting in the generation of funds amounting to crores, sources said.
Barkati has been accused of misusing the raised funds involving money laundering and acquisition of undisclosed assets for propagation of radicalism within the Kashmir valley. Barkati had gained prominence in 2016 following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani by security forces in south Kashmir's Kokernag on July 8 that year.
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Barkati was the face of large-scale protests, rallies, and clashes with security forces in the aftermath of Burhan Wani's killing. More than 30 FIRs were registered against him in various police stations of the valley, sources said. According to a SIA official, Barkati managed to raise approximately Rs 1.74 crores through crowd funding campaigns.
“These funds were ostensibly raised for personal gains and a significant portion of the collected funds was allegedly misused for undisclosed purposes, including possible financing of secessionist and terrorist activities,” the official said. He said that during investigation SIA Kashmir has found that Barkati had “not only exploited public sentiment and trust for personal financial gain but also potentially laundered funds from unidentified sources, suspected to have links with terrorist organizations”.
“Furthermore, a substantial portion of the acquired funds had been deposited in various Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) under the names of Barkati's family members, raising questions about the legitimacy of the sources and utilization of the funds,” the SIA said. It said that Sarjan Barkati's actions “amounted to a betrayal of the public's trust, as he allegedly manipulated emotional appeals and crowd funding platforms to further personal and potentially illicit agendas”.
“Barkati's activities not only tarnished the sanctity of crowd funding but also raised serious concerns about the misuse of such resources for promoting separatist-terrorist activities," the SIA added.
