Indian intelligence cracks down on Kashmir 'terror funds'
NIA has found a huge inflow and outflow of funds related to at least 10 bank accounts in Kashmir valley.
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Indian intelligence officials are cracking down on funds being funnelled into Kashmir in order to fuel the ongoing unrest. India's National Investigation Agency (NIA), which primarily deals with counter-terror measures at the domestic level, has said it has already initiated a preliminary probe into the matter which has led to the discovery of up to 10 key bank accounts operating from the Kashmir valley.
Indian-administered Kashmir has been in turmoil ever since prominent separatist figure Burhan Wani was killed by Indian security forces in July 2016. India has blamed Pakistan for fanning the clashes in Kashmir, prompting a sharp reaction from Islamabad.
India's latest clampdown on "terror funds" is aimed at choking the flow of money into separatist movements in Kashmir.
"Based on technical inputs, information has been collected that certain bank accounts in J&K have seen huge inflow and outflow of funds during the last few months. These accounts are in names of persons whose income doesn't warrant such banking transactions," a spokesperson for the NIA said.
The unidentified official added: "To verify the details and to ascertain the end users of the flow of funds, NIA has registered preliminary enquiry into the subject and would submit its findings to the home ministry in due course." A sum of least 240m Indian rupees (£2729631) has been pumped into the Kashmir valley as part of fuelling the unrest in recent weeks, reports NDTV. If the links between the individual accounts and extremist activities are established, formal charges would be framed against those responsible, said the NIA.
Local reports suggest extremist organisations and other separatist groups based in Kashmir have urged their sympathisers to use conduits from the Middle East to pump funds in a bid to escalate the crisis in the valley.
At least 65 people have been killed during the 41-day-long protests in Kashmir and over 3,000 others have been left injured. The Indian government has released several statements in the past few weeks blaming Pakistan for engineering the unrest in Kashmir.
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