Gyanendra Pratap Singh appointed as CRPF Director General
Srinagar, Jan 19: Gyanendra Pratap (GP) Singh posted as the Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), played a pivotal role in the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) high-profile crackdown on the Hurriyat Conference and terror funding networks in 2017 in Kashmir.
GP Singh, presently posted DGP Assam, was a senior officer with the NIA at the time when he coordinated several key operations that marked a significant shift in counter-terrorism efforts in Jammu and Kashmir.
In July 2017, the NIA registered a case related to terror funding at its New Delhi police station, targeting funds allegedly sourced from Pakistan to sponsor terrorist activities and protests, including stone-pelting incidents, in the Kashmir Valley.
The NIA first information report names Pakistan-based terror mastermind Hafeez Saeed, who heads the Jamaat-ul Dawah, a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), as an accused, as it does the Hurriyat Conference and terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen.
Anil Shukla, then Inspector General of Police (IGP) in the NIA and now serving as Director General of Police (DGP) Mizoram, was the chief investigating officer in the case. GP Singh, in his capacity, played a crucial role in overseeing and coordinating operations on the ground.
Singh, a 1991-batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, has worked with the National investigating for six years, and in several parts of the northeast, including Assam, for over 18 years.
Singh has a reputation for being a tough cop. He also worked with the SPG. Since 2013, he was on central deputation to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) where he served as Inspector General. Though his tenure there was to end in November 2020, he was abruptly rushed back to Assam in December 2019 as ADGP (Law and Order) to quell the violent protests that had erupted across the state against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Crackdown on Hurriyat
One of the moments of the investigation was the arrest of seven senior Hurriyat leaders in July 2017 and Singh coordinated the operation. These arrests were carried out after a two-month-long investigation that unearthed financial trails linking separatist activities in Kashmir to funds provided by Pakistan-based terror organizations.
The individuals arrested included Altaf Shah, the son-in-law of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, along with key aides Ayaz Akbar, Me'raj Kalwal, and Bashir Ahmad Bhat. Other separatists taken into custody were Nayeem Khan, Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, and Shahid-ul-Islam, a close associate of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, seen as a moderate voice among separatists.
“The 2017 crackdown was a watershed moment in addressing the nexus between terrorism and funding in Kashmir. GP Singh’s leadership and coordination during the operations were instrumental in their success,” said a senior officer who was posted in NIA during those days. On the day of the arrests, Singh managed coordination efforts, ensuring the operation’s precision and security.
In addition to leading ground operations, Singh also personally interrogated several high-profile individuals, including Hurriyat leaders. During the course of the investigation, Singh questioned Kashmiri leaders at the NIA headquarters in New Delhi, delving into their alleged involvement in the funding and orchestration of protests and violence in the Valley.