Srinagar Dec 20: A special court in Kashmir has issued a non-bailable warrant against Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen chief Mohammad Yousuf Shah, popularly known as Syed Salah-ud-din, after observing that he is evading arrest in a terror-related case registered in 2012.
The warrant was issued by the Special Judge (NIA) Budgam, Yahaya Firdous, who said that the case diary revealed sufficient material linking Salah-ud-din to the alleged offences. “The Investigating Officer has collected sufficient evidence which prima facie connects the accused Shah for the commission of crime under Sections 13, 18, 20, 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section 506 of the Ranbir Penal Code,” the court observed.
The judge said that the original case diary has been forwarded to the competent authority for sanction, after which the charge sheet will be produced before the court for trial in absentia. Accepting the submission of the Investigating Officer, the court held that Salah-ud-din was deliberately avoiding arrest.
“As such, the court is satisfied that the accused is evading arrest. A non-bailable warrant is issued against the accused with the direction to the police of Jammu and Kashmir to arrest him,” the order said according to news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).
Salah-ud-din contested the 1987 Assembly elections in the Kashmir Valley before crossing over to Pakistan in 1990 following the outbreak of militancy. He later rose to become the chief of Hizbul Mujahideen, once the largest militant outfit operating in Jammu and Kashmir, and was also appointed chairman of the United Jihad Council, an umbrella body of militant groups.
In 2017, the United States designated Salah-ud-din as a global terrorist. In 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs also declared him a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha terminated the services of Salah-ud-din’s three sons — Shahid Yousuf, Shakeel Yousuf and Mueed Yousuf — from government employment under Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution, which allows dismissal without a formal inquiry on grounds of national security. Two of his sons, Shahid and Shakeel, have also been arrested by the National Investigation Agency in connection with a terror-funding case.
