Litigators suffer as work in courts remain suspended for 3rd day in Kashmir

Srinagar, Sept 7: Litigators continued to suffer as lawyers across the Valley abstained from work due to a strike called by High Court (HC) Bar Association, Kashmir, against National Investigation Agency’s summon to its president advocate Mian Abdul Qayoom in connection with terror funding in the state.
      Mr Qayoom yesterday appeared before the NIA in New Delhi.
      “All district and Mufassil Bar Associations, besides HC lawyers in the Valley abstained from court work for the third successive day today,” a member for the J&K HC Bar Association told UNI.
      “We will hold a meeting in the evening today to decide the further course of action,” he added.
      Meanwhile, Chairmen of both the factions of Hurriyat Conference (HC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Maulvi Umar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik have decided to protest and court arrest at the headquarters of National Investigation Agency (NIA) in New Delhi on Saturday.
      The separatists decided to up the ante after 10 people, including spokespersons of both the factions of Hurriyat Conference and two sons and son-in-law of Mr Geelani, were arrested so far since July by NIA in connection with terror funding in the state.
      The NIA since yesterday conducted searches at seven places in Srinagar and on outskirts in the Valley, where the agency has arrested two alleged stone pelters on Tuesday in connection with terror funding. Both the youth, one of them a freelance photojournalist, have been sent to police custody for ten days.
      The NIA teams, assisted by state police and paramilitary forces, also raided a dozen places in summer capital, Srinagar, Tangmarg in Baramulla district, Handwara in the frontier district of Kupwara on August 16.
      Following the raids, the Agency on August 17 arrested prominent Srinagar-based businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, who was sent to police custody till Monday by a Special NIA Judge at Patiala House court.
      As many as 34 companies of PoK were blacklisted to weed out any illegal activity on cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade routes after the recovery of drugs from a truck at Trade Facilitation Centre Salamabad Uri on July 21.      
      The Cross-LoC trade between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, capital of PoK, was suspended for about 22 days till August 11 following the recovery of 66.5 kg heroin and brown sugar from the truck.
      With the arrest of two youth yesterday, the NIA has so far arrested 10 people, including spokespersons of both the factions of Hurriyat Conference, two sons and son-in-law of hardline HC chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani since last month after their questioning in Srinagar.
      The NIA also conducted raids on their and other separatist leaders houses after a formal FIR was registered following alleged admission in a sting operation by Nayeem Ahmad Khan, chairman of National Front (NF) that separatists were receiving funds for terror activities in Kashmir from abroad. Khan, who is also under arrest, was later suspended from the HC headed by Geelani.
      The agency carried out searches at 14 places on June 3 in Kashmir in connection with funds being received from Pakistan terror groups for carrying out subversive activities in the Valley. The disclosure by Khan led to NIA raids at several places in Delhi, Haryana, Jammu and Srinagar.
      On July 30, the NIA also searched the office and residence of a lawyer, Devinder Singh Behal, chairman, Jammu and Kashmir Social Peace Forum, a constituent of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat headed by Geelani, in Jammu.
UNI