A Srinagar resident, identified as Shafat Ahmad Shungloo, has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, in what is being seen as a major development in a decades‑old terror case.
Arrest in 36‑year‑old case
The CBI took Shafat Ahmad Shungloo, son of Saif‑ud‑Din and a resident of Hawal presently living in the Ishber Nishat area of Srinagar, into custody from Nishat police station on Monday. Officials said he had been named as an accused and was wanted as an absconder in the case relating to the abduction of Dr. Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, on December 8, 1989. The arrest warrant was issued by the designated Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court in Jammu, where the trial is underway.
Background of the kidnapping
On December 8, 1989, militants of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) intercepted a vehicle in Srinagar and kidnapped 23‑year‑old medical intern Rubaiya Sayeed, who was returning home from Lal Ded Hospital. She was released five days later after the central government agreed to free five jailed JKLF militants in exchange, a hostage‑swap that is widely regarded as a turning point that emboldened insurgent groups and escalated militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.
Role of Yasin Malik and other accused
JKLF chief Yasin Malik is one of the main accused in the case and is alleged to have conspired with others to execute the kidnapping. In 2022, during proceedings before the TADA court in Jammu, Rubaiya Sayeed appeared as a prosecution witness and identified Malik and several co‑accused as part of the group that abducted her, strengthening the prosecution’s case.
CBI investigation and trial status
The CBI took over the probe in the early 1990s and filed a chargesheet under various provisions of the Ranbir Penal Code and TADA, naming several JKLF members, including Malik and Shungloo. After years of limited progress, fresh momentum came when the special court framed charges against the accused and began recording witness testimony, leading to renewed efforts to track and arrest absconders like Shungloo.
Significance of the latest arrest
Security and legal experts view Shungloo’s arrest as a significant step in pursuing accountability for an incident that had far‑reaching political and security consequences in Kashmir. The move signals the CBI’s intent to push the long‑pending trial to its logical conclusion, more than three decades after the kidnapping shook the country and altered New Delhi’s approach to militancy in the region.
