The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday arrested Sheikh Abdul Rashid, a former Independent MLA in Jammu and Kashmir better known as Rashid Engineer, in a case concerning the financing of terror activity in Kashmir, officials said.

The arrest

Rashid represented the Langate seat in north Kashmir in the assembly. Officials said he was the first mainstream politician the agency had arrested in this case.

He had been questioned in 2017 and was summoned again earlier in the week. According to officials, his answers were not convincing, which made it necessary to question him in custody.

His name is said to have come up when the NIA interrogated businessman Zahoor Watali, whom the agency had arrested on the allegation that he channelled funds to separatists and terror outfits in the Valley.

About the case

The NIA registered the case against separatist leaders, including unidentified members of the Hurriyat Conference, who it alleges worked with militants of banned groups such as Hizbul Mujahideen, Dukhtaran-e-Millat and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

According to the FIR, the case covers the alleged raising and collection of money through illegal channels, including hawala, to fund separatist and terrorist activity, as well as stone-pelting on security forces, burning of schools, damage to public property and waging war against India.

Hafiz Saeed, the Pakistan-based head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which the FIR describes as a front of Lashkar-e-Taiba, is named as an accused. The FIR also names both factions of the Hurriyat, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, along with Hizbul Mujahideen and the all-women separatist outfit Dukhtaran-e-Millat.

See also: political leaders and election news.

Originally published on 10 August 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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