india

Updated: Mar 11, 2019 23:31 IST

Kashmiri separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Naseem Geelani, the son of Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Gilani, on Monday skipped a summons by the National Investigation Agency citing security reasons, their lawyer said.

On Saturday, the two were issued the summons to appear before the NIA at its Delhi headquarters in connection with a 2017 terror funding case.

The notice in question appears to have been issued on the basis of fallacious assumptions and misinformation solely aimed at maligning the Mirwaiz-i-Kashmir (Farooq), knowing his status and position, it appears to be outcome of considerations other than law. My client is not acquainted with the subject matter of FIR/NIA Crime no RC 10/2017/NIA/Dli, referred in the notice,” Farooq’s counsel Ajaz Ahmad Dhar said.

“It is on record that in 2004 and 2005 Mirwaiz and his colleagues from the Hurriyat engaged in a dialogue initiated by the then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee and continued by his successor Manmohan Singh. The government of India facilitated the travel of Mirwaiz and his colleagues to Pakistan to pave the path for peaceful resolution of issue,” Dhar said.

The lawyer also said that “under the prevailing condition of hostility wherein there is a threat to the personal safety of my client it becomes unwise for my client to travel to Delhi”. “If the NIA wants to examine my client they can do so in Srinagar. He is willing to cooperate as he has nothing to hide.’’

An NIA official said, on February 26, the agency had carried out searches at seven locations, including the residences of separatist leaders Farooq, Geelani, Yaseen Malik, Shabir Shah, Ashraf Sehrai and Zaffar Bhat in connection with the case. The official claimed the agency had recovered incriminating documents, including property papers.