NIA Chargesheets Six Separatist Leaders in 1996 Kashmir Mob Violence Case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a chargesheet against six senior separatist leaders of the Hurriyat Conference in connection with a 1996 mob violence case in Srinagar. Three of the accused have died during the pendency of the case.

Those named in the chargesheet include Democratic Freedom Party chief Shabir Ahmad Shah, late Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, late J&K People’s Conference founder Abdul Ganie Lone, J&K Liberation Front leader Javid Ahmad Mir, Islamic Students League chairman Shakeel Ahmad Bakshi, and late Mohammad Yaqoob Wakeel.

The NIA said the six separatist leaders 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 said in a statement.

According to the agency, the investigation revealed that all six accused 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,” the NIA said.

The NIA alleged that the accused Hurriyat leaders actively incited the violence, raising anti-India, pro-Pakistan, and secessionist slogans, and delivered inflammatory speeches advocating armed struggle.

“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 & Kashmir,” the NIA added.

The NIA took over the case in April 2026 on the directives of the Union Home Ministry. “Investigation in the case is continuing,” it said.

Shabir Ahmad Shah, 72, who has been in and out of jail since 1989, was granted bail by the Supreme Court on March 28, 2026, in a money laundering case being probed by the NIA. He was arrested in 2017. According to his family, Mr. Shah has spent more than three decades in jail.