JKLF chief on hunger strike against NIA custody, his condition very bad, says family

JKLF chief Yasin Malik's family on Saturday alleged that he was "very ill" after he went on a hunger strike to protest against his "illegal" detention by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

A Delhi court had on April 10 sent Malik to NIA custody till April 22 in connection with a terror funding case.

Addressing a press conference here, Malik's family said they were not allowed to meet the separatist leader and that he has been in a hospital for the past four days.

"We had gone to Jammu to meet him (Malik), but when we reached there in the evening, we heard that he has been taken to Delhi. So we returned without meeting him. Since then, we are only in touch with his lawyer. The lawyer, Raja Tufail, was also not allowed to meet Malik," they alleged.

The family said Tufail had to get court permission to meet the JKLF leader on Saturday.

"It was then that they (NIA officials) were forced to tell him (lawyer) that Malik was very ill as he (Malik) had been on a hunger strike since April 10 and was admitted to a hospital on April 16. The jail authorities had not informed us about his health condition," they said.

In a statement, a Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) spokesman said the "illegally detained JKLF chairman is in a serious condition" in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Delhi.

"After getting court permission, his (Malik) lawyer was contacted by NIA officials this morning and asked to come to the said hospital where the lawyer found that Malik was on a hunger strike. The JKLF chairman started his hunger strike against the callous approach of NIA, a day after he was shifted to New Delhi and handed over to the agency," the spokesman said.

He also warned the Centre of "serious consequences" if anything untoward happened to Malik.

"The JKLF will hold a two-day hunger strike in Islamabad on April 25 and 26, and stage a five-day dharna starting from April 28 outside the Indian Embassy in London," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said he was "deeply" disturbed by the news about Malik's health.