NEW DELHI: A special NIA court in Delhi on Wednesday announced life imprisonment for Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, four years after he was booked in terror conspiracy and also less than a month after he pleaded guilty by deciding to not contest the charges.
Special NIA Judge Praveen Singh at Patiala House Court in Delhi awarded two sentences for10-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) under section 120-b (criminal conspiracy) of Indian penal code and section 20 of UAPA. The two sentences to the JKLF chairman will run concurrently, the court said. The Patiala House court has also slapped a fine of Rs 10.75 lakh on him.
Observing that terror funding is one of the gravest offences, the court said, “In the present case, the order on charge specifies how funds were raised and how they were received from Pakistani
establishment as well as designated terrorist Hafeez Saeed and through other hawala operations.”“It is these funds that were used to create unrest where under the guise of public protests, paid terror activities of stone pelting and arson at mass scale were committed,” it further observed.
Malik betrayed good intentions of the government and he took a different path to orchestrate violence in the guise of political struggle, it said.
The NIA judge had framed charges against Malik, who led Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) during the peak of terrorism and separatist movement while waging a war against Indian security forces, and 15 others under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the case, on March 16 this year.
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As Singh shifted time of pronouncement of quantum of punishment after hearing arguments, Malik was kept inside the court complex amid a high security cover.
At the time of filing of this report, security was beefed up in Srinagar by Jammu and Kashmir Police.
Malik, who is currently lodged in Delhi’s high-security Tihar jail, has accepted all charges against him in a terror funding case in the Patiala House court and said that he is not contesting the charges.
Tihar Jail DG Sandeep Goel said, “We will keep Yasin at jail number 7 and will read the order copy to decide what job he will be given. The order copy will decide his nature of job inside the jail.”
According to NIA, Malik, along with Pakistan based banned terror group Hizbul Mujahideen chief Hafiz Saeed, Syed Salahuddin, late Sayeed Ahmed Shah Geelani, Umar Farooq, Asiya Andrabi, Shabbir Shah and other Hurriyat leaders were the main organizers of the conspiracy.
Altaf Ahmad Shah aka Fantoosh, son-in-law of Geelani, Aftab Ahmad Shah aka Shahid-ul-Islam and Nayeem Khan and others were the main strategists and planners.
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The NIA also alleged that Mehrajuddin Kalwal, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali and others were the fundraisers and financial conduits while Bashir Ahmad Bhat aka Peer Saifullah, Farooq Ahmad Dar aka Bitta Karate, Noor Mohammad Kalwal and others were the executors of anti-India protests, demonstrations and violence.
It further said that Mohammad Akbar Khanday Aftab Ahmad Shah aka Shahid-ul-Islam and others were the publicity managers and propagandists for the Hurriyat Conference.
The NIA alleged that Malik aka Aslam is the head of JKLF, an organization involved in terrorist and subversive activities in Jammu & Kashmir.
The NIA stated that being a part of the conspiracy related to secessionist and terrorist activities in J&K, Malik was arrested in this case on April 10, 2019, and the NIA carried out searches at his premises on February 26, 2019, and incriminating materials were found.
The NIA also alleged that Malik played a key role in orchestrating the protests and demonstrations. “Apart from a protest calendar for the period from August 6, 2016, to August 16, 2016, which was signed by Chairman AHPC, a yearly calendar was also recovered from the house of Malik. During the period from August 6, 2016, to August 16, 2016, the protests were very violent and 89 cases of stone-pelting and other unlawful activities were registered during this period,” the NIA alleged.