Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah sent to ED custody

Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah was today sent to seven days' Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody by a Delhi court in a decade-old case of money laundering for alleged terror financing.

Additional Sessions Judge Sidharth Sharma allowed the custodial interrogation of Shah, who was arrested yesterday, by the ED after the agency told the court that he was not cooperating with the investigators.

The ED had issued multiple summons to Shah, but he never deposed before the central probe agency.

A Delhi court had earlier this month issued a nonbailable warrant (NBW) against the separatist leader.

The agency had been issuing to Shah summons earlier too in pursuance of the August 2005 case in which the Delhi Police's Special Cell had arrested Mohammed Aslam Wani (35), an alleged hawala dealer.

According to the police Wani had claimed that he had given Rs 2.25 crore to Shah.

The ED had registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Shah and Wani.

Wani was arrested with a large cache of ammunition and Rs 63 lakh, allegedly received through 'hawala' channels from the Middle East, on August 26, 2005.