TADA Court Frames Charges Against Yasin Malik, 9 Others in '89 Kidnapping of Mehbooba Mufti's Sister

A special TADA court on Monday framed charges against Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief Muhammad Yasin Malik for the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of the then Union Home Minister late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, more than 31 years after the crime took place.

Besides Malik, Special TADA Judge Sunit Gupta framed charges against Ali Mohammad Mir, Mohammad Zaman Mir, Mehraj-ud-Din Sheikh , Iqbal Ahmad Gandroo, Mohammad Rafiq Pahloo alias Nana Ji alias Saleem, Manzoor Ahmed Sofi, , Javed Ahmad Mir alias Nalka, Wajahat Bashir and Showkat Ahmad Bakshi.

Sayed, the younger sister of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti, was kidnapped on December 8, 1989. Yasin Malik was accused of playing a key role in the kidnapping. Rubaiya was eventually released December 13 of the same year.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its charge sheet filed before the Tada court said that two dozen conspired to kidnap Rubaiya, who was back then interning at Lal Ded Hospital, Srinagar, to demand the release of their associates. Among the others, Mohammad Rafiq Dar and Mushtaq Ahmed Lone are dead and twelve others are absconding.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the judge, referring to confessional statements by Mohammad Zaman Mir and Ali Mohammad Mir, observed that “sufficient grounds exist’’ for drawing prima facie presumption that Yasin Malik, Ali Mohammad Mir, Iqbal Ahmed Gandroo, Manzoor Ahmed Sofi, Mehraj-u-Din Sheikh and Rafiq Ahmed Pahloo have committed the offences of entering into criminal conspiracy, kidnapping Rubaiya with an intention to murder and keeping her in wrongful confinement under provisions of Ranbir Penal Code, apart from Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (TADA) Act and Indian Arms Act.”

Malik is currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail.

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