Parra charged under sections of the stringent UAPA

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against senior PDP leader Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra in a case related to the alleged nexus between politicians and terror groups in the union territory, officials said.

They said that Parra has been chargesheeted by the Criminal Investigation (Kashmir) wing of the Jammu and Kashmir’s CID under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act dealing with waging war against the country and threatening peace.

The chargesheet was submitted before the competent court which has taken cognisance of the document.

Parra has been in judicial custody since his arrest earlier this year by the CIK, a branch of CID mandated to probe cases under the UAPA and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The CIK had filed a case last year against unknown politicians and others based on “reliable and confidential sources” who said some political functionaries were misusing their power and helping militants. It was alleged that these politicians, under a criminal conspiracy, had established clandestine connections and relations with different Pakistan-supported terrorist and secessionist organisations operating in Jammu and Kashmir for a number of reasons.

It was also alleged in the case that the conspiracy was hatched for furthering the politicians’ clout among the local populace, countering the influence of rival political parties and their members, protecting their own financial and business interests and with medium-term motives of winning the trust of “the Pakistani establishment, dealing with subversion in Kashmir, including those in the United Jihad Council”.

These politicians have allegedly supported terrorists and secessionists, directly and sometimes through middlemen, by way of paying money and organising select physical attacks through terrorist elements, it was alleged. The chargesheet also accuses them of having facilitated movements of terrorists and transportation of their arms and ammunition.

In furtherance of the criminal conspiracy, these “unprincipled political party functionaries” assisted and aided the terrorists and secessionists in intensifying the war against the Union of India with the main objective of ultimately making Jammu and Kashmir cede from the Union”, it was alleged in the case.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police had also carried out an Internet Protocol Detail Records (IPDR) analysis of Parra, the PDP youth wing president, to probe allegations that he was in touch with secessionists and terrorists across the border.

The IPDR helps track the details of a call or message generated by a phone device and includes details like the number from which the call was made, destination port, start and end date and time.

Parra’s lawyer have denied all the charges during various court proceedings, and claimed that his client, who won the District Development Council elections last year, was being made a political scapegoat.

In March this year, Parra was chargesheeted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and it was alleged that he had paid Rs 5 crore to the son-in-law of hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani for keeping Kashmir in turmoil after the death in 2016 of Burhan Wani, who was then the poster boy of banned Hizbul Mujahideen terror group.

The NIA accused Parra, who was arrested last November, of being involved with banned terrorist groups like Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashker-e-Taiba.

The NIA alleged that after the death of Wani in an encounter with the Army in July 2016, Parra got in touch with Altaf Ahmad Shah, alias Altaf Fantoosh, and asked him to ensure that the Valley was kept on the boil with widespread unrest and stone-pelting.

In January this year, Parra was granted bail by the NIA court, which said there was no reference to him in the original, as well as the supplementary charge sheets presented in July and October last year respectively.

However, he was arrested by the CIK wing in the case related to nexus between mainstream politicians and secessionists, and continues to be in jail since then. His bail was rejected by the NIA court in Srinagar. ---- PTI

Courtesy: The Tribune: 01st June, 2021