Rubaiya Sayeed only identified Yasin Malik in abduction case: PDP

The party, headed by her sister – former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti – said Rubaiya only identified JKLF chief Malik and not several others, as reported in the media.

Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of the then home minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, has identified Yasin Malik as one of her kidnappers in the high-profile abduction in 1989 before a special court in Jammu, the People’s Democratic Party said on Saturday.

Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of former J&K chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, outside before the court in connection with her abduction case, in Jammu district on Friday, (PTI)

The party, headed by Sayeed’s sister Mehbooba Mufti, said she only identified Malik and not several others, as reported in the media.

“Although Ms Rubaiya Sayeed is not a part of the People’s Democratic Party, what has been reliably learnt is that she has been able to identify only one person who is a part of the court proceedings, and not many as indicated by the report,” PDP spokesperson Najamu Saqib said in a statement. “Anything else is mere exaggeration and extrapolation of the facts.”

Sayeed was kidnapped in December 1989 allegedly by Malik and his aides when her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, was the Union home minister at the VP Singh-led National Front government. Five jailed terrorists were released to secure her safe return. Sayeed was kidnapped by the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front on 8 December, 1989, and was released on December 13.

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed later served as chief minister of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state, as did his other daughter, Mehbooba Mufti.

Sayeed, who now lives in Chennai, appeared before the special court dealing with cases under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act after summons were served to her.

She identified Malik through photographs, her lawyer Anil Sethi said on Friday.

Malik, who is serving a life sentence in Tihar jail in a terror funding case, moved an application seeking his personal appearance in two cases – the Sayeed kidnapping and the killing of four air force officers, including squadron leader Ravi Khanna.

On January 11, 2021, the TADA court had ordered that charges be framed against Malik and nine others in the abduction case.