In a significant development, a Special NIA Court has formally framed charges against two key operatives in a high-profile terror funding case investigated by Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK). The accused—Shabir Ahmad Bhat of Kakapora and Javaid Ahmad Yatoo of Pampore—stand charged under stringent sections of the UAPA and IPC for allegedly funneling foreign-sourced terror finances to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives in Jammu & Kashmir.
According to a CIK statement released to Global News Service (GNS) the case (FIR No. 02/2024) exposes an intricate trans-border hawala network where LeT handlers in Pakistan, aided by Gulf-based conduits, exploited religious and commercial travel to smuggle funds. Investigators revealed that Bhat, while on Umrah in Saudi Arabia, collected Saudi Riyals from known LeT associates in Madina and later distributed the converted INR to terrorists’ families in Kashmir via encrypted communication with Pakistan-based handler Sumama (alias Babar/Ilyas). Yatoo allegedly facilitated these critical handler-courier connections.
The probe has now widened with the recent arrests of two more suspects—Mohammad Ayoub Bhat (Budgam) and Mohammad Rafiq Shah (Srinagar)—and seizures of electronic devices, bank records, and transaction logs that unveil a “deeply embedded” financial infrastructure. CIK emphasized this as a milestone in “dismantling terrorism’s economic backbone,” signaling more arrests as the investigation progresses.
(Source: GNS)
