The National Investigation Agency (NIA) today carried out searches at 14 places in Kashmir and eight places in Delhi in connection with funding received by the separatists from Pakistan for allegedly fueling unrest in the Valley.
The NIA, which had earlier registered a Preliminary Enquiry, converted it into a Regular Case (RC) last evening and began searches in the wee hours at the residences of second-rung separatist leaders in the Valley.
Around eight hawala dealers and traders in Delhi were also raided, official sources said.
Two places in Sonepat were also being searched by the NIA teams in this connection.
The raids follow questioning of three separatists– Nayeem Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar alias ‘Bitta Karate’ and Gazi Javed Baba of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, who were seen on television during a sting operation purportedly confessing to receiving money from Pakistan-based groups last month.