Rubaiyya Sayeed kidnapping: Shangloo’s name ‘inadvertently’ listed in 2019 arrest warrant

The arrest and subsequent release of businessman Shafat Ahmed Shangloo has taken a curious turn with the special court noting that his name had been “inadvertently or mistakenly” listed in the general arrest warrant issued in 2019 which became the basis for his arrest in the Rubaiyya Sayeed kidnapping case.

In its order on Tuesday setting Shangloo free, the court found that his name had been “inadvertently or mistakenly” listed in the warrant issued on August 10, 2019.

The warrants were issued by the special court on August 10, 2019 in compliance with its order dated September 17, 1991.

The 1991 order had directed its office to issue warrants against five persons — Miss Halima, Javed Iqbal Mir, Mohd Yaqub Pandit, Javed Ah Mir and Gh Mohd Taploo — before the prosecution’s evidence commenced.

CBI probed the role of Shangloo as an alleged conspirator in the sensational case but released him in the absence of any evidence. His name was listed at number 10 in column 2 of chargesheet among people released for the want of evidence.

CBI had filed the chargesheet on September 18, 1990 against JKLF chief Yasin Malik and others.

The recording of prosecution evidence is likely to begin on December 6 which has resulted in renewed activity to track the absconding accused, officials said.

Sayeed, daughter of the then Union home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, was abducted from near Lal Ded Hospital in Srinagar on December 8, 1989. She was freed five days later, after the then prime minister VP Singh’s government, which was supported by BJP at the Centre, released five dreaded terrorists of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) in exchange.

Shangloo falls amongst the persons who have been released for want of evidence against them, the court pointed out after going through the chargesheet.

The court also took note of the special court order dated September 17, 1991 which became the basis of general arrest warrants issued on August 10, 2019 which in turn was executed by CBI on December 1 with the arrest of Shangloo, five days before the recording of prosecution evidence was to begin.

While releasing Shangloo, it noted that his name is “not in the list” of the accused against whom a warrant has to be issued according to the 1991 order of the court.

Special Judge Madan Lal not only set Shangloo free but also cancelled warrants issued in 2019 against seven others who were not named in the 1991 order.

“...to avoid unnecessary exercise by CBI and hardship and stigma of arrest to the other accused named in the warrant but not in the order dated 17.9.1991 compliance to which the warrant has been issued against the other accused namely Riaz Ahmed, Khurshid Ahmed Dar, Tariq Ahmed, Nisar Ahmed Bhat, Manzoor Ahmed, Nanaji, Abdul Majid Bhat, whose names are also not in the order for issuance of warrant... is also cancelled,” Special Judge Madan Lal said.

CBI along with the Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested Shangloo from his residence in the Nishat area of Srinagar in the 35-year-old case, claiming he was part of a conspiracy hatched by members of JKLF and had been absconding.

JKLF chief Yasin Malik, who has been attending the court hearings through video-conferencing, has been identified by eyewitnesses, including Rubaiyya Sayeed.

Malik, who is serving a jail term in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in a terror-funding case, is not being produced physically in court due to an order of the Ministry of Home Affairs restricting his movement.

During the court hearings, Sayeed had identified four other accused besides Malik of being involved in the heinous crime.

Now living in Tamil Nadu, Sayeed is listed as a prosecution witness by CBI, which took over the case in 1990.

Malik, 56, was sentenced by a special NIA court in May last year. He was arrested in early 2019 in connection with the 2017 terror-financing case registered by NIA.