In a secret move, the chairman of the J&K Liberation Front, Yasin Malik, was shifted out of the Kot Bhalwal prison to a high-security prison complex of Delhi's Tihar Jail on Tuesday. Top intelligence sources said that only some higher rank jail officers were aware of the move. Malik was arrested after JKLF was banned by the government under the anti-terror law.
"This is in accordance with a policy of zero tolerance against terrorism followed by govt," Union Home Secretary Rajiv Guha said. Malik has been charged with the kidnapping of former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's daughter, the murder of four Indian Air Force personnel and conspiring migration of Kashmiri Hindus from the valley.
The Narendra Modi-led government had said that there are nearly 37 FIRs registered against Yasin Malik's JKLF. The NIA has also registered a separate case against Malik. The NIA had brought Malik to Delhi on Tuesday evening after NIA court issued a production warrant.
Who is Yasin Malik?
Yasin Malik is one of the popular separatist leaders from Kashmir who has been a proponent of Azaad (independent) Kashmir since 1987 when militancy broke out in the valley. Malik was one of the few local men who crossed the Line of Control to get arms training from Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
He floated JKLF which was the militant organisation that carried out many attacks against security forces in the valley. Malik was also arrested several times. But soon afterwards, he shunned the path of violence and is said to have adopted the Gandhian resistance policy.
The recent move of the ban on JKLF by the government had evoked condemnation from mainstream politicians like Mehbooba Mufti and others in Kashmir saying that the order was unnecessary since Malik was no longer supporting violence.
However, the government reiterated that it has credible evidence of Malik funding stone pelting activities in the valley. It was also said that JKLF was engaged in promoting anti-India feelings among the people of Kashmir, which is detrimental to the country's territorial integrity.
