The National Investigation Agency, NIA today carried out searches at 14 places in Kashmir and eight places in the National Capital in connection with terror funding in the Valley. The NIA, which had earlier registered a Preliminary Enquiry, converted it into a regular case last evening and began searches in the wee hours at the residences of second-rung separatist leaders in the Valley.

An official source said, around eight hawala dealers and traders in the National Capital were also raided. Among those raided were close aides and kins of hardline separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani and others in the Hurriyat Conference. Two places in Sonepat, Haryana were also being searched in this connection. The raids follow questioning of three separatist- Nayeem Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar alias ‘Bitta Karate’ and Gazi Javed Baba of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, in the national capital last month. During a sting operation Nayeem Khan was seen purportedly confessing to receiving money from Pakistan-based terror groups.