Rs 40 lakhs spent for J&K protests: Separatist's confession NDTV Correspondent

Rs 40 lakhs spent for J&K protests: Separatist's confession
NDTV Correspondent

Updated: December 16, 2010 00:45 IST

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/rs-40-lakhs-spent-for-j-k-protests-separatist-s-confession-72843

Jammu: The Director General of Jammu and Kashmir police Kuldeep Khoda has said that more than Rs. 40 lakh were spent to fuel protests and finance stone pelting in Kashmir, and the money came from many separatist leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

This he says was revealed in the interrogation of Masrat Alam, who led the agitation in Kashmir last summer.

Alam was arrested by the police from the outskirts of Srinagar in October.

"He has revealed a lot of things during interrogation. We are compiling it, we are taking further action on that and financing for stone pelting has also been revealed. His contacts who have emerged as facilitators of pelting in Kashmir, they are also being rounded up. Many of them have been booked under public safety act cases also and we will follow it up. The amount is quite a bit, in fact more than Rs. 40 lakh," said Khoda.


Asked if there was any connection between sponsorship of the protests and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Khoda said, "No, it has been coming from various separatists including him too."


Tags: J&K protests, Kuldeep Khoda, Masrat Alam, Separatist's confession, Syed Ali Shah Geelani

Defaulter Geelani asked to pay 1.73 cr as IT dues

Defaulter Geelani asked to pay 1.73 cr as IT dues 

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/defaulter-geelani-asked-to-pay-1.73-cr-as-it-dues/703332/0


Agencies
Tags : Kashmir, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Hurriyat Conference
Posted: Wed Oct 27 2010, 16:41 hrs
New Delhi:

Income Tax department has asked hardline Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani to file Rs 1.73 crore in tax dues over a period when he had not filed his returns after rejecting his appeal.

The IT sleuths, which had swooped on residences of Geelani and his family members in 2002 and seized valuable items including a diamond-studded watch gifted by Pakistan Government, had raised a tax demand of over Rs 1.5 crore.


Geelani challenged the demand and approached the Commissioner of Income Tax (appeals) for review of the case and also sought a waiver, saying he did not earn anything other than the pension from Government of Jammu and Kashmir and from agriculture land.


The case dragged on for nearly three years and recently the appeal was dismissed after which he was asked to deposit Rs 1.73 crore as tax liabilities by end of 2010.


Geelani, who heads the breakaway faction of Hurriyat Conference, has still the option to go to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT).



The Tax Department had raised the demand of Rs 1.73 crore against the firebrand Jamaat-e-Islami leader after giving him ample opportunities to furnish answers to a questionnaire about his sources of income.


The questionnaire followed an assessment of Geelani’s wealth by the department following a series of raids conducted at his house and other places in June 2002.


The department had raided Geelani’s house and other places of his kin on June 9, 2002 and seized Rs 10.2 lakh and 10,000 US dollars in cash, vouchers showing purchase of substantial amount of jewellery, a diamond-encrusted watch inscribed with “From Pakistan Government” besides documents pertaining to purchase of property and vehicles.


Geelani had shown an annual income of Rs 17,100--Rs 7,100 as pension from the state Assembly as a former MLA and Rs 10,000 as agriculture income.


However, according to the assessment made by the Income Tax Department, the monthly expenditure of Geelani allegedly ranged from Rs one lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh as he had 15 servants at his house and his wife had confirmed that she used to get Rs 25,000 per month for kitchen expenses.


When asked to comment, Geelani said he had not received the notice as yet and would like to first understand the grounds of rejection before reacting.

The Hindu : States / Other States : Violent protests in Srinagar after Eid prayers

The Hindu : States / Other States : Violent protests in Srinagar after Eid prayers

SRINAGAR, September 11, 2010

Violent protests in Srinagar after Eid prayers

PTI

Police accuse the Hurriyat Conference's hardline fraction of taking advantage of the Eid congregation and inciting violence in the city.

Rampaging mobs on Saturday set on fire some public properties including the Crime Branch office and a police guard post in Hazratbal Shrine as violence marred Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations in Srinagar city.

Police blamed activists of hard line faction of Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Muslim league headed by underground separatist leader Masrat Alam Bhat for carrying out the incidents of arson as part of a pre-planned conspiracy to disrupt Eid celebrations.

Soon after a protest rally organised by separatist leaders at Lal Chowk, a group of youth barged into the office of Chief Engineer Power Development Department (PDD) near Exhibition Crossing here and set it on fire.

The adjacent building housing the Crime Branch office was also engulfed in flames within no time and the blaze spread rapidly as the building is mostly made of wood.

Police had been clearly instructed that there should be no firing on the mob. Several rounds were fired in air to disperse the mob and fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames.

Senior police officials led by Director General of Police (DGP) Kuldeep Khoda rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control.

So far, there are no reports of anyone getting injured in the firing incident.

The rally at Lal Chowk was organised jointly by several separatist leaders including Moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, JKLF Chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik and acting chairman of hard line faction Nissar Hussain Rather.

The separatist activists hoisted several objectionable flags atop the clock tower. The tower, which was recently renovated by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, suffered damage as several youth climbed atop it.

The Mirwaiz called for an half-an-hour sit in protest in the heart of the city and later left for his home despite assurances made by him that the crowd will disperse quietly after the sit-in.

During his Eid sermon at Eidgah, where thousands of people offered prayers, the Mirwaiz asked them to march to Lal Chowk to stage a 30-minute protest against the recent killing of people in Kashmir.

Earlier, a mob set on fire a police barrack and a vehicle of the police department outside the Harzratbal Shrine on the banks of the Dal lake here following which security forces had to open fire.

Soon after Eid-ul-Fitr prayers, a group of people attacked the police barrack in the lawns of Hazratbal and set it on fire. They also set ablaze a police vehicle.

Police opened fire to disperse the mob and prevent any further damage to public property, they said adding seven persons including three cops were hurt in the clashes.

Police spokesman said activists of hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference led by Geelani and Muslim League disrupted Eid prayers at Hazaratbal and set afire the Auqaf building housing the policemen and a police vehicle.

“Timely and prompt action of the fire service and police stopped the fire from spreading. The mob was dispersed. However, the situation is tense,” he said and accused the Mirwaiz of aggravating the situation by “leading a procession to Lal Chowk, taking the advantage of the Eid congregation.

“He (the Mirwaiz) has vitiated the Eid celebration in Srinagar”, the spokesman said, adding the administration and police were exercising maximum restraint and have appealed to the people to cooperate with the administration.

The police spokesman said the workers of the Hurriyat and Muslim League, who had in a pre-planned manner disrupted the peaceful prayers at Hazratbal, have been identified.

“Investigation reveals that these elements had planned in advance to provoke the administration and use the Eid congregating to disrupt festivities and create the misconception this was a popular movement,” he said.

The spokesman said the arrests at Kulgam on Thursday had found that “hardline Hurriyat Conference has been using hooligans to force people to participate in the strikes and protests.”

“This is for the first time that an Eid congregation has been converted into protest and the people of Srinagar have not been allowed to celebrate Eid peacefully,” the spokesman said, adding it seems that people by and large are being held hostage by elements with vested interests.

Meanwhile, traffic police posts at Jahangir Chowk and Regal chowk were also set on fire. The plastic road dividers, used by the traffic police for regulating traffic, were also torched at many places.

Keywords: Kashmir violence, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hurriyat, civilian-police clash