Following the arrest of a Kashmir man with ₹6.90 lakh Hawala money, who claimed that former minister Jatinder Singh alias Babu Singh had given him the task, former J&K deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta on Friday said that the incident proved how deep was nexus ran between ministers of previous governments in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan, Hurriyat and anti-national elements during militancy
Following the arrest of a Kashmir man with ₹6.90 lakh Hawala money, who claimed that former minister Jatinder Singh alias Babu Singh had given him the task, former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta on Friday said that the incident proved how deep was nexus ran between ministers of previous governments in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan, Hurriyat and anti-national elements during militancy.
“During militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, several ministers of the governments were involved in it. Now, many things will come to the fore during investigations. Not only this (Babu Singh), but many other ministers during previous governments worked for Pakistan and anti-national elements,” said Gupta. He added that Babu Singh’s involvement in the Hawala racket has opened a Pandora’s Box
“Such people have no regard for the supreme sacrifices of the security forces and their bravery and can stoop to any level for money. I feel that after a thorough probe, many startling facts will come to the fore and the eco-system that supported Hurriyat, terrorists, and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir will be exposed with this investigation,” said Gupta.
The former minister has been declared an absconder by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. He had initially launched the International Democratic Party and then contested and won 2002 assembly elections from Kathua. Subsequently, he was inducted as power minister in the Congress-PDP coalition government from 2003-to 2005.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police had on Thursday arrested the Kashmiri man. “On the basis of a specific input that some people are going to receive Hawala money in Jammu, several checking points were established. Based on suspicion, the police arrested Mohammad Shareef Shah, 64, of Anantnag district, from Gandhi Nagar area,” additional director general of police Mukesh Singh had said.
“On questioning, Shah disclosed that he was tasked by Babu Singh to collect the money from one Omer at Srinagar. After receiving the money from Omer, Shareef came to Jammu and was caught,” said the ADGP.
On further questioning, Shareef disclosed the names of his local and foreign associates – Javed and Khatib, residents of PoK and Farooq Khan of Toronto in Canada. “Shareef is also the admin of a secret Whatsapp group which has members not limited to Pakistanis and Saudis,” said Singh.
Following the arrest of Shah, three other men identified as Gurdev Singh of Jammu, Sidhant Sharma of Kathua, and Mohammad Sharief Sartaj of Jammu were also detained for questioning regarding the Hawala transaction. A case has been registered and an investigation is in progress.
The former minister’s cellphone was found switched off and text messages didn’t elicit any response either.
