Mufti nephew held for funding militants

‘‘This is a message that everybody is equal before this government. He (Sarwar) can be a relative to us but he is not above the law,’’ said PDP president Mehbooba Mufti. ‘‘The police can take action against anybody found involved in any illegal activity irrespective of who they are. We are not interfering in the work of the police.’’

Sources say the police arrested Sarwar yesterday, but not before they got a clearance from the CM. He is being sent to Jammu for detailed interrogation.

‘‘We had information that he (Sarwar) is involved in gold smuggling and is funneling that easy money to militants. We picked him up after we collected all the evidence,’’ IGP, Kashmir Range, Javaid Mukhdoomi told Express.

Sources say that Sarwar, who lives in Mufti’s ancestral town Bijbehara, was earlier picked up by the Border Security Force for his involvement in a car theft racket. However, he was immediately released.

It is learnt that Sarwar duped several businessmen across South Kashmir, promising them partnership in his gold business. ‘‘He had collected crores of rupees from people. Later, he disappeared,’’ a police officer in South Kashmir told Express.

Sources reveal that the police have made a strong case for imprisoning him under the Public Safety Act, after his preliminary interrogation.

Though the police downplays his relation with Mufti, the CM’s office in fact has described the arrest as a positive measure. ‘‘It is not that he (Sarwar) has been allowed to let go because he is distantly related to the Chief Minister. He is behind bars despite being related to the Mufti family,” said CM’s secretary Nayeem Akhtar. ‘‘The law will take its own course but this has set a good precedent,’’ he added.