CBI arrests suspect in 36-year Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping
CBI arrests suspect in 36-year Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping
CBI arrests Shafat Ahmed Shangloo, linked to JKLF, in the 1989 Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping; investigation extends into decades of case files.
Srinagar: The Central Bureau of Investigation said on Monday that it has arrested Shafat Ahmed Shangloo, a man wanted in the 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of then home minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Shangloo had been an absconder for about 35 years, and the agency put a ₹10 lakh reward on him. The CBI described Shangloo as a close confidant of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik, who is currently lodged in Tihar jail in connection with other cases.
Officials said Shangloo allegedly worked as an office-bearer for JKLF and was involved in managing the outfit’s finances. The 1989 kidnapping, carried out by Malik and others, aimed to secure the release of five JKLF associates jailed in various cases. Rubaiya Sayeed was abducted as she was returning from Lal Ded Hospital in Srinagar on December 8, 1989, and was freed five days later after political decisions led to the release of several inmates. The CBI has long tracked a network around the case, and Shangloo’s arrest marks a renewed push in resolving the decades-old crime.
Shangloo was apprehended in the Nishat area of Srinagar with the help of local police and will be produced before a special court in Jammu, the agency said. Malik, who has been indicted in related cases and is serving time, has been a key figure linked to the kidnapping in eyewitness accounts. Rubaiyya Sayeed has identified several other accused over the years, and the case remains a significant chapter in the region’s turbulent history.
Cover image source: CBI arrests man involved in kidnapping Mufti Sayeed’s daughter after 35 years 🔗
