Delhi: Top Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik sat on an indefinite hunger strike in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, alleging that his case is not being investigated properly. Top jail officials huddled for several meetings and spoke with Malik but he has refused to end his strike. The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief was sentenced to life on May 25 by a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Delhi. He was arrested in early 2019 in connection with the 2017 terror-funding case registered by NIA.
The seperatist leader currently faces two other separate cases - kidnapping and murder. His decision to begin a hunger strike is viewed as a desperate attempt to alter the legal course of the proceedings.
The Kashmiri separatist has been lodged in jail number 7 of the Tihar prison. Separated from the outside world, he has been kept alone inside the prison, away from nearly 13,000 prisoners. Tihar prison's jail number 7 has been always in the limelight as it has housed several high-profile prisoners, including former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, former Union Minister A Raja, Sahara head Subrata Roy, Christian Michel among several others.
In January last year, the CBI, with help from special public prosecutors Monika Kohli and S K Bhat, framed charges against 10 people, including Malik, in the Rubaiya kidnapping case that turned out to be a turning point in the Valley's volatile history. During the hearing, Rubaiya recorded her statement before the special judge and during the course she identified Malik, who was has been sentenced to life imprisonment in a terror funding case, and three others as her abductors.
Also Read | Yasin Malik to spend life 'all alone' at Tihar Jail No. 7, won't be given any work
Rubaiya Sayeed, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's daughter, appeared before a special CBI court in a case related to her 1989 abduction and identified JKLF chief Yasin Malik and three others as the ones who took her captive. This is the first time Rubaiya has been asked to appear in the case. She had been freed after five terrorists were released in exchange. Rubaiya, who stays in Tamil Nadu, is listed as a prosecution witness by the CBI, which took over investigations into the case in early 1990.
The case had gone into virtual cold storage and was revived after Malik was picked up by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2019 on charges of terror funding. Rubaiya was abducted near Lal Ded Hospital on December 8, 1989 and freed from captivity five days later on December 13 after the then V P Singh government, supported by the BJP at the Centre, released the five terrorists in exchange.
In March 2020, the special court framed charges against the JKLF chief and six others in another case related to the gunning down of four IAF personnel on the outskirts of Srinagar in January 1990.
Also Read | 1989 kidnapping case: Rubaiya Sayeed, Mehbooba Mufti's sister identifies Yasin Malik among 4 accused
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