Iran donations in J&K under scanner, probe into middlemen taking cuts

The State Investigative Agency (SIA) is suspecting that middlemen are using funds to fuel several anti-India activites.

Amid large-scale donations for war-ridden Iran in the Kashmir valley, intelligence agencies fear a high-risk of misappropriation and diversion of funds to aid anti-India activities. Officials also suspect that a network of middlemen and several dubious organisations are active in the scene to siphon off a large amount of money, coming through Zakat, to meet their personal gains or fuel potential separatist activities in the valley.

“Most people, whether rich or poor, are donating out of genuine goodwill. Those who are directly donating the money to the Iranian embassy should not be worried, as it will reach Iran. However, many middlemen and dubious organisations are collecting funds in cash, which may not reach the embassy,” one of the agency officials told India Today.

In this context, the officials from the State Investigative Agency (SIA) have referred to the case of Maulavi Sarjan Barkati, who is serving his jail term in an alleged money-laundering case linked to terror funding.

Barkati, who came to the limelight for inciting violence through his acrimonious anti-India speeches after the death of Burhan Wani in 2016, raised an amount worth Rs 1.5 crore through crowdfunding. His family members made emotional appeals to the people of the valley to help meet day-to-day needs.

The investigative agencies investigated that under this guise, the cleric not only generated a huge amount of funds but also laundered money from unknown sources, allegedly having connections with militant outfits. It was also believed that the funds were used in fuelling the secessionist militancy campaign.

Names of several suspicious characters have come to light after the SIA raised an alarm over the illicit collection of money.