Ahead of the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the NIA court on Tuesday granted interim bail to MP Rashid Engineer. The NIA court has granted him bail to campaign for the assembly elections. The bail has been granted till October 2, following which he will have to surrender in front of the NIA.
Engineer Rashid had sought interim bail for three months to campaign in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. Rashid's lawyer said that if the court does not grant interim bail for three months, then it should grant interim bail till October 10 during the assembly elections. Rashid's lawyer also said that he also wants to perform his duty as an elected MP from Baramulla.
Rashid arrested in terror funding case
Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid was arrested in the 2017 terror funding case. He was held under the UAPA law. Since 2019, then he has been incarcerated in Tihar jail. Rashid's indulgence in the case came to the fore during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali who was arrested by the NIA in charge of financing terrorist groups and Kashmiri separatists. The names which the NIA included in its chargesheet included Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin.
Rashid's AIP announced candidates on 9 seats
His Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) has recently declared candidates for nine seats in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. The Rashid-led party has named the following candidates:
- Abdul Qayoom Mir: Pampore
- Harbaksh Singh: Tral
- Sofi Iqbal: Pulwama
- Molvi Fayaz Wagay: Zainapora in Shopian
- Mohammad Arif Dar: DH Pora in Kulgam
- Suhail Bhat: Devsar in Kulgam
- Hilal Ahmad Malik: Dooru in Anantnag
- Aqib Mushtaq: Anantnag West
- Tawseef Nisar: Anantnag
Rashid won Baramulla Lok Sabha seat
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, he contested from the Baramulla seat and registered a dominating victory over former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Rashid, contesting as an Independent, defeated Abdullah by a margin of 2,04,142 votes. While Rashid garnered 4,72,481 votes, Abdullah was polled 2,68,339 votes. Sajjad Gani Lone ended up as second runner-up with 1,73,239 total votes polled. As the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha is scheduled to begin on June 24, the new members will be administered oath by the President. Hence, Rasid too had to come to the parliament to take the oath.
