Jammu: National Investigation Agency officials arrest Devinder Singh Behl, a close aide of Syed Ali Shah Gelani, in connection with the terror-funding case, in Jammu on Sunday. (PTI Photo)
A day after National Investigation Agency concluded its searches on the houses of advocate Devinder Singh Behl, as part of its crackdown on separatists charged with fomenting unrest in Kashmir Valley with funds received from Pakistan based terror outfits, the Jammu Bar Association on Tuesday expelled him for its primary membership.
“Ours is a nationalist association and we will not tolerate presence of any anti-national element, whether associated with Hurriyat Conference or any other group,” said Bar president B S Salathia here. On the recommendation of two senior lawyers, Behl was admitted to the Bar as a member in 2013, Salathia said, adding that the decision to expel him was unanimous with even Bar members from his community taking strong exception to his activities.
The NIA had on Sunday raided the house of Behl at Bakshi Nagar in Jammu and his ancestral house at Nowshera in Rajouri district on Monday, seizing four mobile phones, a tablet, other electronic devices, incriminating documents and financial papers. The investigating agency has accused him of being a courier for money sent from Pakistan to the Syed Ali Shah Geelani led faction of Hurriyat to organize stone pelting in Kashmir.
Behl, who also happens to be chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Social Peace Forum, is a member of legal cell of the Hurriyat and he has been very close to top Hurriyat leaders and also regularly attending the funerals of militants. He has reportedly also hosted separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Shabir Shah at his Jammu residence in the past.
