ED registers money-laundering case against LeT chief, Hurriyat, others

New Delhi, June 23 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate on Friday registered a case of money laundering against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, Dukhartan-e-Millat, Hizbul Mujhaideen and members of Hurriyat Conference in connection with the alleged terror funding from across the border to stoke unrest in the Kashmir Valley.

The ED had earlier registered a preliminary enquiry against the Hurriyat leaders on May 19 to probe the funding from Pakistan through hawala channels - an illegal cash transfer system across borders run by money brokers.

"A case has been registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to probe how illegal funds and money laundering was used to finance terror activities and fund separatist activities," an ED official, who didn't want to be identified, told IANS.

The ED's action comes in the wake of the wake of the case registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against Saeed and other terror organisations under the provisions of waging war against the country and criminal conspiracy.

The NIA registered a case against Pakistan-based organisations after India Today news channel released videos of the separatist leaders who confessed to receiving funds from Pakistan to incite trouble in Kashmir.

Earlier this month, the counter-terror probe agency had carried out raids at over 33 places across Srinagar, Delhi and Haryana.

The NIA had seized property-related documents, letterheads of banned terrorist organisations LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen, pen drives, laptops, mobile phones and other incriminating documents, including phone diaries, receipts, vouchers from the premises of the accused financiers, hawala operators, and office-bearers of separatist groups during the raids.