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Srinagar: In yet another step to curb Kashmiris\u2019 freedom of economic and digital expression, Indian Central agencies in collaboration with police have frozen over 8,000 bank accounts across Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, branding them as part of a \u201cdigital hawala\u201d network.<\/p>\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, the crackdown has been justified under the pretext of preventing cyber fraud and anti-India activity. Indian authorities claim that mule account holders, or \u201cmulers,\u201d maintain accounts that are allegedly used by cybercriminals to receive and move money.<\/p>\n
Officials pointed fingers at alleged handlers based abroad, including in China, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Cambodia, claiming they direct local youth to operate these accounts. The Indian authorities warn that the funds could be diverted to pro-freedom or anti-India activities, presenting the sweeping freeze as a \u201csecurity measure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Critics and observers in the occupied territory say the crackdown is another pretext to restrict Kashmiris\u2019 freedom of financial and digital activity. They note that labeling ordinary bank users as \u201cdigital hawala operators\u201d provides a justification for coercive surveillance, intrusion into personal finances, and the growing militarisation of everyday life in the Valley.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not merely about cyber fraud,\u201d a local analyst said. \u201cThe Indian state is using the narrative of \u2018digital hawala\u2019 to portray Kashmiris as anti-India while tightening control over their economic space. Accounts of ordinary citizens can be frozen at will, restricting livelihoods and independence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indian Police have urged banks and financial institutions to remain vigilant, while the authorities have emphasized that violations will be treated as offences under Indian law. Observers warn that such measures, under the guise of preventing digital crime, serve to suppress dissent, intimidate youth, and extend state surveillance deep into civilian life.<\/p>\n
The freezing of accounts and clampdown on VPNs underscores a continuing pattern in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, where normal economic, digital, and social activities are increasingly subjected to scrutiny, labeling, and punitive action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Srinagar: In yet another step to curb Kashmiris\u2019 freedom of economic and digital expression, Indian Central agencies in collaboration with police have frozen over 8,000 bank accounts across Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, branding them as part of a \u201cdigital hawala\u201d network. According to Kashmir Media Service, the crackdown has been justified under the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":195011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indian-occupied-jammu-and-kashmir"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/02\/8000-bank.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195010"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195012,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195010\/revisions\/195012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}