Srinagar, March 9: Weeks after the Pulwama attack and searches in his houses of Kashmiri separatist leaders, Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had been summoned by National Investigative Agency (NIA) to New Delhi for questioning on Saturday. Farooq’s secretary Syed Rehman Shamas confirmed that summon had been served.

It is to be known that this is the first time Farooq had been summoned to NIA headquarters in the national capital. Prior to this, other separatist leaders were summoned and arrested after questioning. Also, along with Farooq, Syed Naseem Geelani – son of separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani – has also been summoned by the NIA. Pulwama Attack: Security to Five Separatist Leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Abdul Ghani Bhat, Bilal Lone, Hashim Qureshi and Shabir Shah Withdrawn by Government.

Earlier, while probing the Pulwama terror attack, the teams of NIA had carried out searches on houses of separatist leaders on February 26, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s home. Informing more, the NIA had stated that they raided seven locations which included premises belonging to top separatist leaders namely Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, JKLF chairman Yasin Malik, president of JKDFP Shabir Shah and Naseem Geelani – son of Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

During the search operations, the NIA teams seized incriminating documents including property papers, financial transactions receipts and bank account details, reports Hindustan Times. Also, the teams seized electronic devices including laptops, tablets, mobile phones, pen drives, communication system and DVRs.

Following the procedure and orders from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Jammu And Kashmir Police had arrested JKLF chairman Yasin Malik, who was slapped with Public Safety Act and shifted to Kotbalwal jail in Jammu.

With the Union Home Ministry withdrawing security cover of senior separatist leaders in the Valley including the Mirwaiz and NIA conducting raids, Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) had termed raids on the houses of separatists as a political vendetta against the separatist leadership. The JRL also observed shutdown on Friday, as a protest.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 09, 2019 08:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).