NIA chargesheets Shabir Shah, others in 1996 case

New Delhi, Jul 10: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday chargesheeted separatist leader Shabir Ahmed Shah and other separatist leaders in connection with a 1996 case of mob violence and indiscriminate firing on police personnel in Srinagar.
According to a statement, the chargesheet has named separatist leaders Shabir Ahmad Shah, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Abdul Ganie Lone, Mohd Yaqoob Wakeel, Javid Ahmad Mir, and Shakeel Ahmad Bakshi.
The statement reads all six have been charged under relevant provisions of the Ranbir Penal Code, 1989, for criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder, rioting and assault on public servants, along with Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
The charges against Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Abdul Ganie Lone and Mohd Yaqoob Wakeel stand abated as they had passed away during the pendency of the proceedings, it said, adding however, the chargesheet clearly established their roles in the criminal conspiracy and the common object of the unlawful assembly, along with supporting evidence.
NIA, during investigation, had ascertained that all six accused had led an unlawful assembly and instigated large-scale violence against police personnel during a funeral procession of slain terrorist Hilal Ahmad Beigh at Naaz Crossing, Srinagar, on July 17, 1996.
Armed terrorists blended in with the procession, which was jointly led by the accused Hurriyat leaders, had fired indiscriminately at police personnel during the violence, in which several police officials were injured. Government vehicles were also extensively damaged in heavy stone pelting on the occasion, reads the statement.
It said that the Hurriyat leaders had actively incited the violence, raising anti-India, pro-Pakistan and secessionist slogans. They had delivered inflammatory speeches advocating armed struggle, NIA further found.
Investigation clearly established that the mob violence was part of a larger, pre-planned criminal conspiracy of the Hurriyat leadership to use the funeral procession as a platform for propagating separatist ideology, mobilising public support against the Government of India, provoking public disorder, and inciting violence against law enforcement agencies, while demonstrating the strength of the Hurriyat in Jammu & Kashmir, it said.
An FIR was initially registered in the case at Police Station Shergarhi, Srinagar, on the day of the violence. The NIA took over the case in April 2026, with further investigation underway, it said. (KNO)