Jailed Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid moves Delhi court seeking bail in terror-funding case

New Delhi, August 21

Jailed Kashmiri parliamentarian Rashid Engineer has moved a Delhi court seeking regular bail in a 2017 Jammu and Kashmir terror-funding case.

Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, defeated former chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah in Baramulla in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Chander Jit Singh on Tuesday issued notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and directed it to file its response by August 28, when the court will hear arguments on the application.

The court had earlier granted Rashid custody parole to take the oath of office on July 5.

Rashid has been in jail since 2019 after he was charged by the NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the alleged terror funding case. He is at present lodged in Tihar jail.

The former MLA’s name cropped up during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested by the NIA for allegedly funding terrorist groups and separatists in the Kashmir Valley.

The NIA had filed a charge sheet against several people, including Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, in the case.

Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in 2022 after he pleaded guilty to the charges.