Realising that militant activities in Kashmir Valley had hit an all-time low in view of the sharp drop in infiltration, Pakistan’s ISI now wants separatist leaders in the state to incite secessionist activities similar to the civil disobedience movement of 2010 that had brought normal life in the Valley to a crippling halt.
In the wake of concrete information that ISI was sending money through the hawala channels to separatists to foment fresh trouble, intelligence and enforcement agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, are keeping a close tab on all suspicious fund transfers particularly from Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Kathmandu.
With normalcy fast returning to the Kashmir Valley and the state all set to see another bumper tourist season this summer, the ISI is now getting edgy as security forces have virtually wiped out all top militants. The ISI, source said, has thus changed its strategy and trying to rope in both the separatists and over ground workers for this purpose. Intelligence sources also claimed that Maqbool Pandit, a top Hizbul Mujahideen militant based in Pakistan, has now emerged as the kingpin in sending money through the hawala network to fund both separatist and militants in Kashmir. Pandit has been on the radar of the Indian agencies for quite sometime now. The agencies are also keeping hard-core separatist Hurriyat leaders under surveillance.