SRINAGAR: National Investigation Agency (NIA) has attached the property of Al-Umar chief Mushtaq Zargar alias Latram in Srinagar.
Zargar was released along with Masood Azhar, Jaish-e-Mohammed chief, in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC 814 at Kandahar in 1999.
NIA said Zargar was also involved in the kidnapping of former union Home Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s daughter, Rubaiya Sayeed in 1989.
“Zargar’s two Marlas house (Khasra No. 182) at Ganai Mohalla, Jamia Masjid, Nowhatta, Srinagar, has been attached under the provisions of UA(P)A. The procedure was carried out today by a team of NIA along with the representative of district administration and local police. Zargar is a ‘Designated Individual Terrorist’ under the UA(P) Act and has been operating from Pakistan ever since his release and has been funding terror activities in the valley,” NIA said.
NIA said Zargar was earlier associated with Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and was responsible for several terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. He has also been involved in other heinous crimes, including murders, and has a close association with other terror outfits such, as Al-Qaeda and JeM.
“Zargar was designated a terrorist by the union government under the Fourth Schedule of UAPA. He grew up in the Nowhatta area of Srinagar and joined JKLF. In 1989 he was one of the members who kidnapped Rubaiya Sayeed and negotiated her release in exchange for five terrorists. He was arrested on May 15, 1992, and was released from jail on December 31, 1999, as part of the Indian Airlines Flight 814 hostage exchange deal,” NIA said.