The National Investigation Agency has conducted raids at 10 locations in Kashmir, including the office of Greater Kashmir newspaper and human rights activist Khurram Parvaiz’s house, in connection with a terror funding probe.
An NIA release said the entities were receiving money from undisclosed donors which was then being used to fund terror activities.
Apart from the newspaper office and activist’s house, the NIA teams also raided the offices of two NGOs in Hyderpora and Nawakadal, the house of a journalist, a houseboat owner and Hurriyat activist Muhammad Yousuf Sofi.
It also raided a location in Bengaluru in this connection.
An NIA spokesperson said several incriminating documents and electronic devices have been seized. The agency was assisted by the local police and paramilitary personnel in carrying out the raids.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti called the action a vicious crackdown on dissent.
Kashmir Times editor Anuradha Bhasin said the raids on the Greater Kashmir office and Parvez’s house “are attempts to impose silence even on our whispers”.
The agency has been investigating terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir for the past several years and has arrested a number of Hurriyat leaders.