SRINAGAR, Aug 4: The Jamaat-i-Islami on Monday denied charges that two men allegedly ferrying funds from Pakistan for Kashmiri militants had links to its leader, Syed Ali Geelani.

“This is a drama to malign our leader as the (Indian) government has been frustrated by the positive response to his ‘meet the people’ campaign,” a press statement said.

Mr Geelani heads the political wing of Jamaat — an important constituent of occupied Kashmir’s All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC).

Indian police on Thursday arrested two men and accused them of being conduits for terror funding between Geelani and Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

The police alleged the arrested men were carrying one million rupees from the ISI to Syed Ali Geelani.

The hardline leader recently threatened to launch his own party if Hurriyat fails to expel another influential party, People’s Conference (PC), from the alliance for fielding proxy candidates during last year’s elections in the held state.

Mr Geelani has been holding successful rallies in held Kashmir during which he has been denouncing Hurriyat, and calling on people to support him.

He was arrested by Indian authorities last year on similar charges and released on parole early this year when doctors detected a cyst on his left kidney.

“Such attempts have been made in the past to malign Geelani, and they (the Indian government) have never been able to prove these allegations,” the Jamaat statement said.

LAWYER: A lawyer, Mohammed Ashraf Bhat, also accused by Delhi police of having links to the two arrested persons, on Monday denied the charges and sought intervention of a court in Srinagar.