Delhi HC Rejects Plea of Hizbul Chief’s Sons Against Charges in Terror Funding Case

New Delhi, Dec 23: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed the pleas filed by two sons of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and others challenging the framing of charges against them in a terror funding case investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

A bench comprising Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain rejected the appeals, holding that they were not maintainable. The detailed judgment is awaited.

The accused had challenged a 2021 trial court order that framed charges against them in connection with the case. According to the NIA, the matter relates to the transfer of funds through hawala channels by Pakistan-based terrorists to Jammu and Kashmir as part of a criminal conspiracy aimed at financing secessionist and terrorist activities in the Union Territory.

Salahuddin’s son Shahid Yousuf was arrested in October 2017, while his other son Syed Ahmad Shakeel was arrested by the NIA on August 30, 2018, from his Srinagar residence. The terror funding case was originally registered in 2011.

The NIA has alleged that Yousuf received funds from Hizbul Mujahideen from abroad and was charge-sheeted in 2018. It further claimed that Shakeel received money through Western Union from absconding accused Aijaz Ahmad Bhat and was involved in raising, receiving and collecting funds for the terrorist organisation through cadres based in Saudi Arabia.

Syed Salahuddin, the self-styled commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, has been designated a global terrorist by the United States. (Agencies)