Yasin Malik, who is currently serving life term for cases including funding terrorism, has reportedly gone on a hunger strike inside Tihar jail, prison officials said on Saturday. The chief of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Malik has alleged that his case is not being investigated properly as he commenced his hunger strike on July 22, according to prison officials.
Yasin Malik, lodged in jail number 7 of the Tihar prison, was arrested shortly after the JKLF was banned in 2019, while he was convicted by an NIA court in terror funding cases on May 19 this year and sentenced to life imprisonment on May 25. While NIA court sentenced Malik to life term, a fine worth ₹10 lakh also imposed on him. Yasin Malik told the court that he did not contest the charges brought against him.
This move came as Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed identified Malik in connection with her kidnapping by JKLF militants on December 8, 1989 on July 15. Notably, Rubaiya was abducted in Srinagar on December 8, 1989 and freed from captivity after five days on December 13 after the then V P Singh government at the Centre, released five terrorists in exchange. Malik is an accused in this case along with others.
The 56-year-old separatist leader has requested to physically appear when a court in Jammu hears the case on August 23, according to news agency ANI report. Apart from the Rubaiya Sayeed abduction case, Malik is also facing charges in the case of the gunning down of four Indian Air Force (IAF) officials in January 1990 in Srinagar.
Meanwhile, Rubaiya Sayeed appeared before a special CBI court on July 15 in a case related to her 1989 abduction and identified JKLF chief Yasin Malik and three others as the ones who took her captive, according to news agency PTI report. This is the first time Rubaiya has been asked to appear in the case. Rubaiya, who stays in Tamil Nadu, is listed as a prosecution witness by the CBI, which took over investigations into the case in early 1990. Rubaiya identified Malik, who was present in the court through video conferencing."
"This is the person and his name is Yasin Malik. He was the man who threatened me that he will drag me out of the minibus if I refused to follow their diktat," Rubaiya told the judge. She later identified him again through the pictures that were exhibited in the court.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.