A Jammu and Kashmir court on Monday sent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra to seven-day transit police remand in a case related to “his clandestine connections with different Pakistani terrorists and secessionist organizations”, just three days after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) granted him bail.
“The court, after considering the prayer made by the Investigating Officer, is of the view that the accused persons could not be produced before the Special Judge under Section 167 Cr.P.C. Therefore, the transit remand of the accused persons for a period of seven days is granted,” Special Judge, National Investigation Agency, Sunit Gupta, observed.
Meanwhile, a special judge ordered the framing of charges against JKLF chief Yasin Malik and nine others in the 30-year-old Rubaya Sayeed kidnapping case.
Parra and Muneer Ahmed Sofi from Anantnag's Bijbehara were arrested on January 10 in Jammu as part of an ongoing investigation and could not be produced before the Special Judge in Srinagar, the police told the court.
Also read: NIA arrests PDP youth leader Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra for alleged links to the Hizbul Mujahideen
“Due to the prevailing weather condition and the condition of National Highway, it would not be possible for the investigating agency to produce the accused persons before the Special Judge in Srinagar,” it stated.
The court has directed the police to produce Parra and another accused before the Special Judge on or before January 18.
The J&K police's Counter-Intelligence (Kashmir) cell, which has registered an FIR No. 31/2020 under Sections 13/17/18/38/39/40 UA(P) Act and Sections 124-A/120-B/ 121/121-A IPC, arrested Parra and Sofi, in a case related to the politicians’ ‘nexus’ with militants.
According to the police, the investigation was on the basis of information received from reliable and confidential sources that some political functionaries were misusing their membership, position or affiliation with political parties and as a part of criminal conspiracy, they have established clandestine connections and relations with different Pakistani terrorists and secessionist organisations operating in J&K.
“Taking advantage of the cover available to them because of their membership or position or affiliation with the political parties, these unscrupulous political parties functionaries have variously supported the terrorists and secessionists, directly and sometime through middleman, by way of paying money, organizing select physical attacks through terrorists elements, facilitating their movements, transporting their fighting hardware and importantly saving them from range of legal and coercive actions of Law Enforcement Agencies by unduly influencing the officers of such Law Enforcing Agencies in myriad ways,” the police said.
The investigating agency, which got search warrants issued from Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar, has searched the house of Parra and two houses of Sofi. “Some incriminating material from the residences of the accused was recovered, whereby the complicity of both the accused persons are established in the present case,” it said.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, in a tweet, said, “After getting (a) bail from NIA Court due to lack of evidence, Parra has now been booked under UAPA by the CIK on fabricated charges in a terror case yet again. This is purely political vendetta against the PDP for raising our voice against Delhi’s onslaught.”
Charges against Malik
Special Judge Sunit Gupta, Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) Court, Jammu, on Monday ordered the framing of charges against JKLF chief Yasin Malik and nine others in the Rubaya Sayeed kidnapping, which took place 30 years ago.
“From the confessional statements of the accused, supported with the statements of the abductee Dr. Rubaya Sayeed and other prosecution witnesses, it has been prima facie proved that the accused have hatched a criminal conspiracy to kidnap the abductee with sole objective to get their persons released from the custody,” the court said.
“The court is of the considered view that sufficient grounds are 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. Hence, charges are required to be framed against the accused,” it observed.
Ms. Sayeed was kidnapped on the evening of December 8 and held hostage till December 13, 1989. She was released in exchange of five known militants of the JKLF, including Hamid Sheikh, Altaf Ahmed Bhat, Noor Mohd Kalwal, Javed Ahmed Zarger and Sher Khan.
The CBI has said several accused had made confessional statements and disclosed their role, “which is found to be admissible in evidence under Section 15 of the TADA Act”.
“The accused persons besides their own participation in the commission of offence have also explained the participation of other accused persons,” it said.
Published - January 11, 2021 05:24 pm IST
