‘Hurriyat man had fake notes’

The Delhi Police’s special cell yesterday arrested the chairman of Jammu and Kashmir People League and Hurriyat executive member Sheikh...

The Delhi Police’s special cell yesterday arrested the chairman of Jammu and Kashmir People League and Hurriyat executive member Sheikh Abdul Aziz, with one lakh fake Indian currency notes and 94,000 dirham, which he had allegedly received from the Pakistani High Commission. Police claimed the money was to be used by Aziz for anti-national activities in the Valley.

Aziz has been booked on charges of possessing fake currency; police are still investigating the source of the money and where it was to be spent. He had landed in the Capital on Wednesday and was put up at a south

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Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Karnal Singh said Aziz was caught when he was returning in a car from the Pakistani High Commission in Yashwant Place last afternoon. ‘‘Aziz was found in possession of fake Rs 1,000 notes totalling over Rs 1 lakh and 94,000 dirhams, worth more than Rs 13 lakh. The dirhams were original,’’ Singh said. During interrogation, he told police the money was for anti-national activities. Aziz has been arrested several times in Kashmir under the Public Safety Act. Singh said Aziz had illegally crossed over to Pakistan at least on two occasions, including once for arms training.

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Singh said Aziz was being interrogated for his links in the Pakistani High Commission. The special cell has also sought the help of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on the fake currency.Police said Aziz, resident of Pampore Pul, Srinagar, has been participating in militant activities in the valley.

‘‘He first crossed over in 1988 and received one-and-a-half month’s training in Muzaffarabad. He again returned to Pakistan in 1989, as the pressure of security forces mounted. However, it was in May 2001, when Aziz officially went to Pakistan, as a Hurriyat delegate,’’ Singh said. Aziz joined the People’s League in 1974 and later joined Al Jehad as well. He was imprisoned for seven years in 1993 when he was elected chairman of the League. He was re-arrested later and released in 2004.

Aziz’s brother, Yakub, is now based in Rawalpindi and is representative of the Conference of Pakistan occupied Kashmir.