Crackdown On Banned Group Jamaat-E-Islami In Kashmir, Assets Worth Rs 90 Crore Seized

Eleven major properties of the banned Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami, worth around ₹ 90 crore, have been seized in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district as the government further tightens the noose on the outfit, officials said.

This operation is part of an ongoing crackdown on the group, which is accused of fanning radicalism, separatism, and terrorist activities.

The State Investigation Agency (SIA) has identified about 200 properties of Jamaat across Jammu and Kashmir.

Early this month, nine properties — including two school buildings belonging to the group — were notified and seized by the SIA in the Shopian district.

The assets have been notified by the District Magistrate under the stringent anti-terrorist law, UAPA.

Officials said the crackdown at several places in Anantnag was carried out on Saturday, when SIA officials accompanied by heavy police contingents raided 11 properties and formally seized them after obtained an order from Anantnag’s District Magistrate.

The agency has put up banners at the notified property restricting entry and use.

Jamaat-e-Islami is the largest politico-religious organisation in Jammu and Kashmir. It had a massive network of schools and other social infrastructure before it was banned in 2019.

Jamaat is accused of supporting terrorism, and was the ideological mentor of Hizbul Mujahideen — the largest indigenous terrorist group in Kashmir in the 1990s.

Officials say assets identified by the SIA run into hundreds of crores in value, and are located in almost every district across Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, the SIA said that seizure of these assets will “choke the availability of funds for secessionist activities and to dismantle the ecosystem of anti-national elements and terror networks hostile to India’s sovereignty”.