- By Nidhi Giri
- Tue, 10 Sep 2024 05:13 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Delhi's Special NIA Court granted interim bail to parliamentarian Sheikh Rashid alias Engineer Rashid in connection with the 2017 terror funding case. The interim bail is granted till October 2, 2024, by the court. Rashid is an MP from Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla constituency. He has been granted bail to allow him to campaign for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. Rashid was arrested in 2017 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act . He has been in Delhi's Tihar Jail since 2019.
His name cropped up during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested by the NIA for allegedly funding terror groups and separatists in Kashmir.
The agency had filed a chargesheet against several people, including Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, in the case.
Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in 2022 after he pleaded guilty to the charges. Rashid had moved the court seeking interim bail to campaign in the upcoming Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections, scheduled to be held on September 18, 25 and October 1.
Rashid's 2024 Lok Sabha Stint
Rashid defeated former chief minister and National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah from the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency earlier this year. He had won the Langate assembly segment in 2008 and 2014 J&K elections. He unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Rashid leads the Awami Ittehad Party, but contested these elections as an Independent.
People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday hit out at Rashid's party AIP, calling it a “proxy” of the BJP.