Srinagar: Chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is not going to appear in person before the National Investigation Agency in New Delhi on Monday.
Mirwaiz would, however, submit a written statement to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in response to the summons which had asked him to report at the NIA headquarters in Delhi on Monday for questioning in connection with a case relating to the alleged funding to terrorist and separatist groups in the state.
In its summons to Mirwaiz on Saturday, the NIA had asked him to “report” for “examination” on March 11 at 10.30 am at its New Delhi headquarters. However, the Hurriyat in its meeting on Sunday decided that the senior separatist leader would not travel to Delhi for deposing before the probe agency.
“It has been decided that Mirwaiz saheb would not appear in person at New Delhi. Instead, a written statement would be submitted to the agency,” Syed-ur-Rehman Shams, Mirwaiz’s secretary, said, adding that a “proper response” was being formulated by the amalgam in this regard.
The NIA has also issued summons to Syed Naseem Geelani, Syed Ali Geelani’s son, for questioning at its New Delhi office on March 11.
Meanwhile, a shutdown was observed in downtown Srinagar on Sunday to protest the NIA summons to Mirwaiz. The strike call was given by the Srinagar-based Traders’ Coordination Committee, which termed the summons to Mirwaiz a “direct attack on religion”.
