The Jamaat-e-Islami trail
Syed Ali Shah Geelani's Jamaat-e-Islami has control over schools, hospitals and charitable trusts, as well as a substantial network of political cadres committed to its fundamentalist politics. The Jamaat's armed wing, the Hizbul Mujahideen, is, the State's most feared terrorist group. Intelligence officials have long believed, though without hard evidence, that the Hizbul Mujahideen's mysterious Amir-e-Jihad (supreme leader of the Jihad) was in fact Geelani himself.
An FIR registered in New Delhi by the CBI's Special Investigation Cell suspected that Geelani had violated Section 23 of the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act by receiving 2 million rials (Rs. 19.4 crores at current exchange rates) from Saudi Arabia and a separate donation of Rs. 10 crores from the Kashmir American Council. These payments, the FIR alleged, were collected from hawala dealers in New Delhi.
While part of these payments were sent on to terrorist groups, investigators believed, important diversions took place to buy property.
Geelani's defence is as follows: he does not deny the allegation that he has been involved in property purchases, but insists that the purchases were made with party funds for the use of the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Abdul Ahad, a Srinagar shopkeeper, was found in possession of 12 bank drafts worth Rs. 5,95,000, all issued in favour of a Sopore company, Riyaz & Co. Army officials discovered that the account was held by Riyaz Ahmad Lone, an employee of the Sopore head office of the Kamraz Rural Bank.
Investigations led to the recovery of more drafts, worth a total of Rs. 11 lakhs. Each had been purchased against payment of cash. One of these drafts was worth Rs. 3 lakhs - in violation of the rule that no draft for over Rs. 50,000 can be purchased by any means other than a crossed cheque.
Abdul Ahad told officials of 20 Grenadiers that the drafts were handed over to him by the Jamaat-e-Islami's office clerk, and Geelani's chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Ghulam Mohammad Bhatt. Such drafts, he claimed, were routinely made to be transferred onwards to Jamaat- e-Islami sympathisers across the State.
An FIR was filed by the police on May 10, 1997 and Bhatt was arrested. The former Jamaat- e-Islami chief claimed to have in fact been picked up , which, though not doubtful, is irrelevant to the hawala trail.
Subsequent developments could only be described as strange. The May 10 FIR made no mention of the recovery of bank drafts from Abdul Ahad, and no FIR was registered against their intended receiver, Riyaz Ahmad Lone.
Riyaz Ahmed Lone said that he had indeed been receiving the drafts on behalf of a Hizbul Mujahideen unit.Their leader Irshad Wani approached him and that two consignments of cash the Jamaat-e-Islami sent from Srinagar had been captured by the Army. He wanted a safer route for the money to be sent, and he would be given drafts to pay into his account."
In April, Riyaz Ahmad received drafts for Rs. 11 lakhs but said that before he could encash these drafts Irshad was killed and he decided to hold on to the drafts, because he was afraid that he could get into trouble later.
This explanation, however, leaves open the question of why the second set of drafts was prepared for him on May 3, for his reluctance to encash the first set should by then have given the Jamaat-e-Islami sufficient reason to look for other conduits. Riyaz Ahmad had no answer to this question, but the Army was satisfied.
The Army was most probably convinced of Riyaz Ahmad's innocence. It had reason to be. The Rs. 16.95 lakhs that he had received, from local banking sources, was paid by cheque from Riyaz & Co.'s account into account of the State Bank of India.
By law, the Army should have handed over the drafts to the local police after they were recovered and left the business of further investigation to them.
The Criminal Investigation Department of the State police, which should have monitored the affair, found itself helpless in the face of the challenge of pursuing hawala cases outside the State's boundaries. The CBI, too, made no effort to use the evidence on offer in the bank drafts case to prove its allegations against Geelani. Just why all these agencies acted as they did it is difficult to determine.
The Army's clumsy management of the demand draft affair and the State CID's incompetence have crippled any real chance of arriving at the truth of Geelani's funding sources and their deployment.
There was no real evidence to back the central charges in the CBI's FIR, that Geelani received hawala funds from overseas sponsors and that these funds were converted into personal assets in a corrupt manner.
Abdul Ahad's bank drafts, properly investigated, might have thrown light on that point. Lack of coordination between investigative agencies had created a situation where even if they found out the truth, the case would most likely be laughed out of the trial court.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, though he may vigorously deny the proposition, could owe his political future to the Indian Government.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani's Jamaat-e-Islami has control over schools, hospitals and charitable trusts, as well as a substantial network of political cadres committed to its fundamentalist politics. The Jamaat's armed wing, the Hizbul Mujahideen, is, the State's most feared terrorist group. Intelligence officials have long believed, though without hard evidence, that the Hizbul Mujahideen's mysterious Amir-e-Jihad (supreme leader of the Jihad) was in fact Geelani himself.
An FIR registered in New Delhi by the CBI's Special Investigation Cell suspected that Geelani had violated Section 23 of the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act by receiving 2 million rials (Rs. 19.4 crores at current exchange rates) from Saudi Arabia and a separate donation of Rs. 10 crores from the Kashmir American Council. These payments, the FIR alleged, were collected from hawala dealers in New Delhi.
While part of these payments were sent on to terrorist groups, investigators believed, important diversions took place to buy property.
Geelani's defence is as follows: he does not deny the allegation that he has been involved in property purchases, but insists that the purchases were made with party funds for the use of the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Abdul Ahad, a Srinagar shopkeeper, was found in possession of 12 bank drafts worth Rs. 5,95,000, all issued in favour of a Sopore company, Riyaz & Co. Army officials discovered that the account was held by Riyaz Ahmad Lone, an employee of the Sopore head office of the Kamraz Rural Bank.
Investigations led to the recovery of more drafts, worth a total of Rs. 11 lakhs. Each had been purchased against payment of cash. One of these drafts was worth Rs. 3 lakhs - in violation of the rule that no draft for over Rs. 50,000 can be purchased by any means other than a crossed cheque.
Abdul Ahad told officials of 20 Grenadiers that the drafts were handed over to him by the Jamaat-e-Islami's office clerk, and Geelani's chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Ghulam Mohammad Bhatt. Such drafts, he claimed, were routinely made to be transferred onwards to Jamaat- e-Islami sympathisers across the State.
An FIR was filed by the police on May 10, 1997 and Bhatt was arrested. The former Jamaat- e-Islami chief claimed to have in fact been picked up , which, though not doubtful, is irrelevant to the hawala trail.
Subsequent developments could only be described as strange. The May 10 FIR made no mention of the recovery of bank drafts from Abdul Ahad, and no FIR was registered against their intended receiver, Riyaz Ahmad Lone.
Riyaz Ahmed Lone said that he had indeed been receiving the drafts on behalf of a Hizbul Mujahideen unit.Their leader Irshad Wani approached him and that two consignments of cash the Jamaat-e-Islami sent from Srinagar had been captured by the Army. He wanted a safer route for the money to be sent, and he would be given drafts to pay into his account."
In April, Riyaz Ahmad received drafts for Rs. 11 lakhs but said that before he could encash these drafts Irshad was killed and he decided to hold on to the drafts, because he was afraid that he could get into trouble later.
This explanation, however, leaves open the question of why the second set of drafts was prepared for him on May 3, for his reluctance to encash the first set should by then have given the Jamaat-e-Islami sufficient reason to look for other conduits. Riyaz Ahmad had no answer to this question, but the Army was satisfied.
The Army was most probably convinced of Riyaz Ahmad's innocence. It had reason to be. The Rs. 16.95 lakhs that he had received, from local banking sources, was paid by cheque from Riyaz & Co.'s account into account of the State Bank of India.
By law, the Army should have handed over the drafts to the local police after they were recovered and left the business of further investigation to them.
The Criminal Investigation Department of the State police, which should have monitored the affair, found itself helpless in the face of the challenge of pursuing hawala cases outside the State's boundaries. The CBI, too, made no effort to use the evidence on offer in the bank drafts case to prove its allegations against Geelani. Just why all these agencies acted as they did it is difficult to determine.
The Army's clumsy management of the demand draft affair and the State CID's incompetence have crippled any real chance of arriving at the truth of Geelani's funding sources and their deployment.
There was no real evidence to back the central charges in the CBI's FIR, that Geelani received hawala funds from overseas sponsors and that these funds were converted into personal assets in a corrupt manner.
Abdul Ahad's bank drafts, properly investigated, might have thrown light on that point. Lack of coordination between investigative agencies had created a situation where even if they found out the truth, the case would most likely be laughed out of the trial court.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, though he may vigorously deny the proposition, could owe his political future to the Indian Government.