Three key witnesses fail to appear before TADA court in cases involving Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik

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Three crucial witnesses, including former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association president Mian Abdul Qayoom, failed to make an appearance in a special TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities) court in Jammu on Thursday.

The witnesses were summoned in connection with the 1989 abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of the then Union home minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. However, separatist leader Yasin Malik and his associate Rafiq Pahloo attended the proceedings through video-conferencing.

Rafiq Pahloo, given a final opportunity by the TADA court, was urged to submit objections to an application seeking the cancellation of his bail in a 1990 case involving the killing of four Indian Air Force (IAF) officers and the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed. The court, presided over by TADA Judge, scheduled another hearing for January 18 to address the case of the IAF personnel's killing and the Rubaiya Sayeed abduction case on the subsequent day.

The Senior Public Prosecutor, S K Bhat, disclosed that among the four eyewitnesses summoned, Mian Qayoom did not appear, citing medical reasons, and submitted a medical certificate stating his hospitalization. Another eyewitness, identified as number 23, was reported to have passed away.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier moved an application in August, seeking the cancellation of Pahloo's bail, alleging his involvement in separatist activities that violated the bail conditions.

During the recent hearings, two witnesses, numbered 24 and 25, were examined in November and supported the prosecution's case, identifying the accused Ali Mohammad Mir. Mir, the prime accused in the Rubaiya Sayeed abduction case after Yasin Malik, reportedly transported Rubaiya Sayeed to Sopore from Srinagar and confined her in a guesthouse.

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Notably, Yasin Malik, currently incarcerated in Delhi's Tihar Jail for his alleged involvement in a terror-financing case, was not physically presented in the court due to restrictions imposed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on his movement.

On the other hand, Rafiq Pahloo, also known as "Nanaji," is held in Srinagar's Central Jail after his arrest in July on charges of reviving separatist activities in the Kashmir valley. Pahloo was among ten persons arrested in connection with a conspiracy to revive the banned JKLF and separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference in the region.

The special TADA court had previously framed charges against Yasin Malik, Rafiq Pahloo, and eight others in both the 1989 Rubaiya Sayeed abduction case and the 1990 killing of IAF officers case on January 11, 2021. (With inputs from PTI)