Court Rejects CBI Custody Request for Alleged JKLF Associate in 1989 Rubaiyya Sayeed Kidnapping Case

Shafat Ahmed Shangloo, allegedly a close associate of Yasin Malik, was released by a special court on Tuesday after his arrest by the CBI in connection with the 1989 kidnapping case of Rubaiyya Sayeed.

The court in Jammu denied the CBI's request for Shangloo's custody, highlighting that his name was not mentioned in the agency's charge sheet related to the kidnapping incident.

Rubaiyya Sayeed, daughter of then Home Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, was abducted on December 8, 1989. The five-day ordeal ended after authorities released five JKLF terrorists.

The CBI had claimed that Shangloo had been evading capture for 35 years and carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh. According to the agency, he was arrested on Monday for allegedly participating in a conspiracy orchestrated by members of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front.

"He was produced before the special TADA court. We have sought custody of the accused," CBI lawyer S K Bhat had stated earlier.

Following the arrest, the CBI released a statement saying Shangloo had conspired with JKLF chief Malik and others in committing offenses under various sections of the Ranbir Penal Code and the TADA Act in 1989.

Officials alleged that Shangloo served as an office-bearer of JKLF and managed its financial affairs. The CBI, working with Jammu and Kashmir Police, apprehended him at his residence in Srinagar's Nishat area.

Yasin Malik, currently imprisoned in Delhi's Tihar Jail for a terror funding case, is not being physically brought to court due to Ministry of Home Affairs restrictions on his movement.