Special court dismisses bail plea of ex-J-K MLA in terror funding case

A special NIA court in Delhi on Thursday dismissed the bail application of former independent MLA of Jammu and Kashmir -- Rashid Engineer -- in connection with a terror funding case.

Special Judge Praveen Singh rejected the application saying that the prosecution has successfully established that "there exist reasonable grounds to believe the accusations against the accused are prima facie true".

Rashid Engineer was arrested on August 9 last year in connection with a case related to the funding of terror activities in the Kashmir Valley and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail.

Along with Rashid, Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Masrat Alam, Asiya Andrabi, Shabbir Shah are also in judicial custody in the same case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said that Rashid was unable to give any convincing answers to the agency's questions in the matter.

According to the NIA, which is probing the case, the accused had received unaccounted funds from Zahoor Ahmad Watali, a co-accused in the case, against whom there has already been found to be reasonable grounds of existence of prima facie case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

"The applicant had incited, encouraged and helped stone pelters. Accused, through his video, as discussed above, had tried to foment dissatisfaction in J-K police against the army. He had issued veiled threats to the police personnel of J-K," the NIA said.

The NIA had alleged that the five accused allegedly carried out "criminal conspiracy and waged war against the government by carrying out terrorist and secessionist activities" in the region.

Rashid Engineer was a legislator from the Langate assembly seat in north Kashmir and is the first mainstream politician to have been arrested by the NIA in a terror funding case.