'Yasin Malik threatened me...' Mehbooba's sister Rubaiya identifies her abductors
"This is the person. His name is Yasin Malik. He threatened that he would drag me out of the minibus if I refused to follow their diktat," Rubaiya told the judge. She later identified him through the pictures shown as exhibits in court.
FollowFormer Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's daughter Rubaiya Sayeed on Friday identified JKLF chief Yasin Malik and three others before a special CBI court as her abductors in 1989.
Rubaiya, who had been asked to appear in the case for the first time, identified Malik, who was present in the court via video conferencing.
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To recall, Rubaiya was kidnapped from near the Lal Ded Hospital on December 8, 1989, and released by her kidnappers five days later on December 13 in exchange for five dreaded JKLF terrorists. The decision to release the terrorists was taken by the then V P Singh government, supported by the BJP at the Centre, which released the five terrorists in exchange.
The release of the JKLF terrorists emboldened other terror groups operating in the Kashmir Valley.
The CBI, which took over investigations into the case in early 1990, listed Rubaiya as a prosecution witness
However, over the years, the case virtually went into cold storage and was revived after the National Investigation Agency picked up Malik in 2019 over terror funding.
In January last year, the CBI framed charges in the Rubaiya kidnapping case against ten people, including Malik, with help from special public prosecutors Monika Kohli and S K Bhat.
During the hearing, Rubaiya, who resides in Tamil Nadu, recorded her statement before the special judge. She identified Malik, who was recently sentenced to life imprisonment in a terror funding case, and three others as her abductors.
"This is the person. His name is Yasin Malik. He threatened that he would drag me out of the minibus if I refused to follow their diktat," Rubaiya told the judge. She later identified him through the pictures shown as exhibits in court.
Ahead of Rubaiya's statement, Malik had appeared in the same case on July 13, during which he asked the court to ensure his physical appearance so that he could cross-examine the witnesses in the case.
He further told the court that if the government did not give a response by July 22, he would go on an indefinite hunger strike.
The JKLF chief is currently lodged in the high-security Tihar Jail after a special NIA court sentenced him in Delhi in May. He was arrested in early 2019 in connection with the 2017 terror-funding case registered by NIA.
Others charged in the Rubaiya kidnapping case are Javed Ahmad Mir, Mohammed Rafiq Pahloo, Ali Mohammed Mir, Mohammed Zaman Mir, Manzoor Ahmed Sofi, Wajahat Bashir, Mehraj-ud-Din Sheikh, Iqbal Ahmad Gandroo and Showkat Ahmad Bakshi.
During the investigation, accused Zaman Mir, Ali Mohammad Mir and Iqbal Gandroo voluntarily confessed before a magistrate about their role. Besides, four others made confessional statements before CBI's Superintendent of Police.
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