New Delhi, April 18: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested separatist leader Shabbir Ahmed Shah in connection with a case dating back 30 years. This arrest occurred on Friday evening, following Shah’s recent bail in two other cases in March.
Shah was apprehended by the NIA’s Srinagar branch for allegedly attacking police personnel in 1996. He was subsequently presented in the Patiala House Court in Delhi, where the court granted a three-day transit remand, allowing the NIA to take him back to Jammu and Kashmir. After spending 39 years in custody and under house arrest, Shah had recently been granted bail by both the Supreme Court and the Patiala House Court in separate matters.
On March 12, the Supreme Court granted Shah bail in a terror funding case. Previously, the Delhi High Court had rejected his bail plea, prompting an appeal to the Supreme Court. Shah’s petition highlighted that he is now 74 years old and has been imprisoned for over six years, with only 15 out of 400 witnesses having testified in the trial.
Shah is accused of being involved in a conspiracy to separate Jammu and Kashmir from India and of participating in terror funding activities. The NIA has filed multiple charge sheets in this case, later including Shah. During the hearings, the Supreme Court raised questions regarding the reliability of evidence based on speeches from the 1990s and the justification for his prolonged detention of over six years.
Additionally, the Patiala House Court granted Shah bail in a money laundering case on March 28. He was initially arrested by the NIA in 2019 for his alleged involvement in terror funding, which led to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filing a money laundering case against him. The special NIA judge, Prashant Sharma, approved bail with a personal bond of one lakh rupees and an equal amount in surety.
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