SIA arrests Sarjan Barkti’s wife in terror funding case

Srinagar, Nov 24: State Investigation Agency (SIA), the anti-terror arm of J&K Police, on Friday arrested Shabroza Bano, wife of Sarjan Ahmad Wagay alias Barkati of south Kashmir.

She, along with her husband, has been found involved in terror financing by raising money through crowdfunding, the SIA said.

The SIA officials here said that a case FIR No 02/2023 under Sections 13, 17, 18, 21, 39, 40 of the UA(P) Act, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) of Police Station SIA pertains to the involvement of Barkati family in orchestrating an extensive fund-raising campaign through crowdfunding, resulting in the generation of funds amounting to crores of rupees.

They said that these funds were subsequently misused, involving money laundering and the acquisition of undisclosed assets for propagation of radicalism within Kashmir.

“While Sarjan Barkati was arrested in August this year, his wife Shabroza Bano had been evading arrest after her role surfaced in the case,” the SIA officials said. “During the investigation of SIA, Bano came out as one of the conspirators and was found hand in glove with her husband and Pakistan-based terror handlers in the terror funding case.”

They said that the investigation reveals that Bano has remained in constant contact with Pakistani handlers through encrypted messaging platforms.

“Consequently, she was arrested on Friday,” the SIA officials said.

“Barkati and his family had managed to raise approximately Rs 1.74 crore through crowdfunding campaigns,” officials said. “These funds were raised for personal gains and a significant portion of the collected funds was allegedly misused for undisclosed purposes, including financing of secessionist and terrorist activities. A substantial portion of the acquired funds had been deposited in various Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) under the names of Barkati’s family members, raising questions about the legitimacy of the sources and utilisation of funds.”

The SIA officials said that the main accused in the case Sarjan Barkati was a prominent figure in organising large-scale protests, rallies, and clashes with security forces in 2016.

“During that period, he was instrumental in abetting youth to storm security forces establishments for which more than 30 FIRs were registered against him in various police stations of Kashmir,” they said.