PTI, NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate Tuesday said it has attached Rs 6.19 crore assets of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Watali in a money laundering case related to funding of terror and separatist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
The agency also charged Watali and Hurriyat leaders of receiving funds from Pakistan through conduits and also from the Pakistan High Commission in India “directly”.
It said a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been issued for attaching lands in Sozeith Goripora, Narbal and Budgam areas of Kashmir belonging to Watali and his family members that are worth Rs 6.19 crore.
The ED case is based on a charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as part of its probe against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed.
“Watali has been found to be involved in fund raising and as a financial conduit of Hurriyat leaders,” the ED said.
The probe revealed that the “Hurriyat leaders have received funds from Pakistan through conduits and also from the Pakistan High Commission directly,” it said in a statement.
“This was substantiated by an incriminating document seized from the house of Ghulam Mohd Bhat during search,” it said.
Bhat worked as a cashier-cum-accountant with Watali, the ED said.
