Rubaiya Sayeed, sister of former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti, presented herself before a special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) court in Jammu for a cross-examination. Accused JKLF chief Yasin Malik is likely to cross-examine Ms. Sayeed on October 20.
Ms. Sayeed, also daughter of Union Home Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed in the 1990s, was kidnapped by the militants of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) on the evening of December 8 and held hostage till December 13, 1989.
“Her [Ms. Sayeed] cross-examination was done along with the rest of the accused,” said CBI lawyer Monika Kohli.
Ms. Sayeed, on July 15, 2022, identified JKLF chief Malik, 56, and three others as her abductors in the 1989 kidnapping case, which saw the release of five jailed militants. Later, Mr. Malik went on a hunger strike inside the Tihar Jail in Delhi and demanded that he should be allowed to physically present himself before the court in Jammu and permitted to cross-examine Ms. Sayeed.
Mr. Malik is being called for his cross-examination on October 20 this year. “The Court has ordered production warrants to Tihar jail for Yasin Malik. He’ll be physically present for the hearing, as per his demands,” lawyer Kohli said.
Mr. Malik, who has been booked in a terror funding case earlier this year, has not hired any counsel. The kidnapping case was put in a cold storage for almost three decades and was re-opened in January 2021, when the TADA court ordered framing of charges against Mr. Malik and nine others in the kidnapping.
“Sufficient grounds were existing for drawing prima facie presumption that the accused have committed offences under Sections 120-B read with Sections 368 RPC and Section 3/4 of TADA Act,” the court observed in 2021.
Several accused, according to the CBI, have already made confessional statements and disclosed their role.
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