By Shishir Prashant PrashantNews
A day after his dramatic arrest from Srinagar, a Jammu court on Tuesday set free Shafat Ahmad Shangloo, a Kashmiri resident, who was an accused in the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of the then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, 36 years ago.
Third Additional District and Sessions (TADA) Judge Madan Lal rejected the CBI’s plea seeking Shangloo’s custodial remand. CBI had claimed that Shangloo who was absconding for the last 36 years, was arrested from Srinagar on Monday.
Shangloo’s counsel Sohail Dar claimed that his client was not involved in the case at any stage and there was no evidence against him. The court accepted the plea of Shangloo’s counsel of no evidence and set the accused free.
Later, an elated Shangloo said it was a victory of truth and that the justice has been done to him. “This is the victory of truth and the court has done justice to me,” Shangloo said after coming out of the court.
The CBI on Monday said it has arrested Shangloo, wanted in a 36 Years old case relating to Kidnapping of Dr. Rubiya Sayeed. The CBI had further claimed that Shangloo conspired with Yasin Malik and others in committing a crime under various sections of RPC and TADA Act during the Year 1989 and that he was carrying a reward of Rs. 10 lakh on his head.
The 1989 Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping case was re-opened in January 2021 when a TADA court ordered the framing of charges against the JKLF chief Yasin Malik and nine others.
Sayeed was kidnapped on the evening of December 8, 1989, and held hostage till December 13 that year. She was later released in exchange for five known militants of the JKLF, including Hamid Sheikh, Altaf Ahmed Bhat, Noor Mohammadd Kalwal, Javed Ahmed Zarger, and Sher Khan.