Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Friday that it has charged Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah among six other separatists for the 1996 Srinagar violence.
A press release by the NIA said the agency has chargesheeted six senior leaders of the separatist Hurriyat Conference in connection with a 1996 case of mob violence and indiscriminate firing on police personnel in Srinagar (J&K).
The chargesheet, filed on Friday before the NIA Special Court, Jammu, has named Kashmiri separatist leaders Shabir Ahmad Shah, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Abdul Ganie Lone, Mohd. Yaqoob Wakeel alias Mohd. Yaqoob Vakil, Javid Ahmad Mir, and Shakeel Ahmad Bakshi.
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. However, the chargesheet clearly established their roles in the criminal conspiracy and the common object of the unlawful assembly, along with supporting evidence.
The 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, and 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 during the protest.
As per NIA’s findings in the case RC-01/2026/NIA/JMU, the chargesheeted 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.
The meticulous investigation by the anti-terror agency 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 and Kashmir.
An FIR was initially registered in the case at Police Station Shergarhi, Srinagar, on the day of the violence. NIA took over the case in April 2026 on the directives of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Investigation into the case is continuing.
(IANS)
