NGO terror funding case: Delhi court sends journo to 10-day custody

NEW DELHI: A court here on Wednesday granted the National Investigation Agency (NIA) 10 days’ custody of a person arrested by the agency from Srinagar in connection with an ongoing investigation into an NGO terror funding case.

Irfan Mehraj, a resident of Srinagar, is the first accused arrested following investigations into the NGO terror funding case registered in October 2020, the NIA said. He was a close associate of human rights activist Khurram Parvez and was working with his organisation, the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS), it added.

Principal District and Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma allowed 10 days of custodial interrogation of Mehraj on the federal agency’s plea of 12 days of custody.

After his arrest on Monday, the agency brought the accused to the national capital on a transit remand. It alleged that investigations have revealed the JKCCS was funding terror activities and propagating a secessionist agenda in the Valley under the garb of protection of human rights.

The NIA is probing the involvement of some Kashmir-based NGOs, Trusts and societies in the funding of terror-related activities.

The agency said some NGOs, both registered as well as unregistered, have been collecting funds domestically and abroad under the cover of doing charity and various welfare activities, including public health and education.

“But some of these organisations have developed links with proscribed terrorist outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM),” NIA said.

Activist Parvez was arrested in November 2021 by the NIA and chargesheeted on May 13 next year, along with six others, for alleged anti-national activities, including collecting information regarding vital installations and deployment and movement of security forces, procuring official secret documents and passing the same to LeT handlers through encrypted communication channels for monetary consideration.