Shabroza Bano, the wife of Sarjan Ahmad Wagay alias Barkati, a renowned cleric from South Kashmir. was arrested by the agency

The state investigation agency (SIA) on Friday arrested the wife of a jailed Kashmir cleric in connection in connection with a terror funding case.

Shabroza Bano, the wife of Sarjan Ahmad Wagay alias Barkati, a renowned cleric from South Kashmir. was arrested by the agency. Barkati was arrested in August.

The case pertains to the involvement of the Barkati family in orchestrating an extensive fund-raising campaign, resulting in the generation of funds amounting to crores of rupees, they said.

The officials claimed that the family had managed to raise around ₹1.74 crore through crowd-funding campaigns.

According to officials, these funds were used for money laundering and the acquisition of undisclosed assets for the propagation of radicalism within the Kashmir Valley.”While Sarjan Barkati was arrested in August this year, his wife Shabroza Bano has been evading arrest after her role surfaced in the case,” an official said.

Bano, along with her husband has been found involved in terror financing by raising money through crowdfunding, he added.

According to police, Sarjan Barkati was a prominent figure in organising large-scale protests, rallies and clashes with security forces in the 2016 summer agitation.

“During that period, he was instrumental in abetting youth to storm security forces establishments for which more than 30 FIRs were registered against him in various police stations of the Kashmir Valley,” an official said.