New Delhi: A Delhi court Thursday dismissed the bail application of former independent MLA in Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, arrested in a case related to terror-funding activities in the Valley.
Popularly known as ‘Rashid Engineer’, he was a legislator from the Langate Assembly seat in north Kashmir and is the first mainstream politician to have been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the case.
Special Judge Praveen Kumar rejected the application stating that the prosecution has successfully established that ‘there exist reasonable grounds to believe the accusations against the accused are prima facie true’.
Rashid was arrested August 9 last year, since he was unable to give any convincing answers to the questions, the NIA said. His name had cropped up during the interrogation of businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested by the NIA for allegedly supplying money to terror groups and separatists in the Valley.
While dismissing the bail application, the court said, “The accused had received unaccounted funds from Zahoor Ahmad Watali (a co-accused in the case) against whom there has already been found to be reasonable grounds of existence of prima facie case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.”
The NIA had registered the case against separatist and secessionist leaders, including unidentified members of the Hurriyat Conference, who have allegedly been acting in connivance with active militants of proscribed terrorist organisations Hizbul Mujahideen, Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and other outfits and gangs, the officials said.
PTI