New Delhi, Oct 24: A special NIA court in New Delhi has ordered a trial against Yasin Malik, Zahoor Ahmed Shah Watali, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Naval Kishore Kapoor, Trison Farms and Construction Pvt Ltd, and Masarat Alam Bhat in Rs 8.9 crore money laundering case, according to a report in The News Mill.
According to the report, the accused received the said amount through hawala channels from the Pakistani establishment.
The charges stem from a case initially registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2017. The accused are charged under Sections 120B, 121, and 121A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as well as Sections 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 38, 39, and 40 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Special NIA Judge Prashant Sharma, as per the report, ordered the trial to begin, with prosecution evidence recording scheduled to start on November 19. The hearing was conducted in a closed courtroom. Malik appeared via video conferencing from Tihar Jail and denied the charges, stating he will contest the case.
In September, the court had framed charges against Malik and six others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It is alleged that the accused received funds from the Pakistani establishment and other terrorist organisations to support secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir. The court found sufficient prima facie evidence to charge all seven accused under Section 3 of the PMLA, punishable under Section 4.
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