Delhi court frames money laundering charges against top incarcerated Hurriyat leaders
New Delhi : A Delhi court has framed money laundering charges against incarcerated senior Hurriyat leaders, including APHC chairman Masarrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmed Shah and Mohammad Yasin Malik, along with four others in a case involving allegations of receiving foreign funding.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the charges have been framed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The court observed that sufficient material was available on record to raise strong suspicion against all seven accused, warranting the framing of charges under Section 3 of the PMLA, punishable under Section 4 of the Act. According to the court, grounds exist for framing charges under Section 3 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act. This section entails a penalty of seven to ten years’ imprisonment and a fine.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged that the accused received funds through hawala channels and other sources, which were subsequently routed through various conduits and allegedly used for pro-freedom activities in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The prosecution claimed that the scheduled offences generated proceeds of crime amounting to approximately INR 8.94 crore.
The money laundering case originated from a case registered by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2017. The NIA had invoked various sections of the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
APHC chairman Masarrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmad Shah and Mohammad Yasin Malik have remained incarcerated for years in multiple fabricated and politically motivated cases. Yasin Malik is serving a life sentence in one such fake case.
