Senior Hurriyat leader and JKLF Chairman Yaseen Malik was today arrested and sent to judicial custody for failing to appear before a Delhi court twice and leaving the country without the court's permission.
Additional Sessions Judge V K Jain ordered his arrest and subsequent remand till September 4 for not appearing before the court on April 10 and 12 earlier this year. The court also said Malik, who was away to the United States and United Kingdom, had not sought
In his order, Jain said "the accused has, for quite sometime not been appearing in police station as per the direction of Supreme Court. The accused thus committed breach of conditions, whereby bail was granted to him."
The order said "he was also required to send information in writing before going abroad. No such information was given by the accused either to this court or to the police station before he left India." However, in view of his health condition, the judge ordered that "the superintendent of Central Jail shall ensure that the accused is provided all necessary medical treatment by qualified doctors.
"If the accused requires consultation or treatment at any specialised hospitals, he shall be provided the same without any delay." The judge also ordered that the accused shall also be entitled to apply for bail, for his medical treatment requires in the US.
The court is trying Malik under section 3 and 4 of Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (prevention) Act. The court had earlier issued notice to the counsel for JKLF chief for forfeiture of his surety bond as the latter had failed to appear before it despite issuance of non-bailable arrest warrants.
Malik, who had left India on March 8 for specialised treatment, is facing trial for allegedly funding terrorist organisations in the case in which four other accused were sentenced to 5-year imprisonment.
The accused, who were sentenced, were Mufti Mehrajuddin, Seikh Gulam Mohammed, Mohammed Yaseen Bhat and Mustaq Ahmed Zargar alias "Latram". Zargar is one of the three militants who were exchanged with the hostages of IC-814 passengers on Decemeber 31, 1999.
Malik, who returned from abroad on July 25 after undergoing a surgery, had appeared before the court and the matter was posted till today. Malik, who was accompanied by vice president of JKLF
Javed Ahmed Mir in the court, was shifted to Tihar jail after the order.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) today termed as "deep-rooted conspiracy" the arrest of Yaseen Malik. "If any harm is caused to Malik, who has been declared
medically unift by doctors abroad, during detention the responsibility lies with the Centre" the JKLF said in a statement in Srinagar.
