Woman arrested in J&K’s Anantnag district in terror-funding case

Srinagar, Nov 24 (PTI) The State Investigation Agency on Friday arrested a woman for her alleged involvement in a terror funding case in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district, officials said here.

The case pertains to the involvement of the Barkati family in orchestrating an extensive fund-raising campaign, resulting in the generation of funds amounting to crores of rupees, they said.

The officials claimed that the family had managed to raise around Rs 1.74 crore through crowdfunding campaigns.

“These funds were raised for personal gains and a significant portion of the collected funds was allegedly misused for undisclosed purposes, including financing of secessionist and terrorist activities.

“A substantial portion of the acquired funds had been deposited in various Fixed Deposit Receipts under the names of the Barkati family members, raising questions about the legitimacy of the sources and utilization of the funds,” an official said.

According to officials, these funds were used for money laundering and the acquisition of undisclosed assets for the propagation of radicalism within the Kashmir Valley.

“While Sarjan Barkati was arrested in August this year, his wife Shabroza Bano has been evading arrest after her role surfaced in the case,” an official said.

Bano was arrested on Friday. She, along with her husband has been found involved in terror financing by raising money through crowdfunding, he added.

Officials said the State Investigation Agency, during the investigation, identified Shabroza Bano as one of the conspirators. She was in constant contact with Pakistani handlers through encrypted messaging platforms, they added.

According to police, Sarjan Barkati was a prominent figure in organizing large-scale protests, rallies and clashes with security forces in the 2016 summer agitation.

“During that period, he was instrumental in abetting youth to storm security forces establishments for which more than 30 FIRs were registered against him in various police stations of the Kashmir Valley,” an official said.