The CBI’s moment of triumph in the high-profile Dr Rubayya Sayeed abduction case lasted less than a day as a court in Jammu set free the “absconder” arrested by the central agency on Monday.
A special TADA court in Jammu refused to grant the CBI custody of the former JKLF activist Shafat Ahmed Shangloo in connection with the 1989 kidnapping of Rubayya, the daughter of the then home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.
The kidnapping and subsequent release of five militants is seen as a watershed moment in Kashmir militancy.
In a statement on Monday, the CBI had said Shangloo was an absconder carrying a reward of ₹10 lakh on his head. The agency claimed Shangloo had conspired with jailed JKLF chairman Yasin Malik in committing the crime under various sections of the Ranbir Penal Code and TADA Act in 1989.
The agency was left red-faced as it approached the Jammu court for his custody on Tuesday. “He has been set free,” Shangloo’s lawyer Suhail Dar told reporters.
“The court read the documents and found there was nothing (no evidence) against him. The investigation officer had already given him the benefit under Section 159 (of CrPC) on the premise that there was no evidence against him,” Sar added.
Shangloo said the court had delivered justice. “It is a victory for the truth,” he said.