One day before the Jammu and Kashmir District Development Council elections begin, PPD leader Waheed Parra was sentenced to 15 days in custody by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) on Friday. He was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly conspiring with Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists to gain their support during the 2019 parliamentary elections. Parra had submitted his nomination for the elections as of November 28.
On Thursday, the NIA presented Parra in a Delhi court and requested a pretrial detention for his production before a designated court in Jammu.
Parra was taken to Jammu and brought before a designated NIA court that ordered him into custody for 15 days. Parra has been alleged to have “close ties” to Irfan Shafi Mir, who was arrested along with Hizbul terrorist Mujahideen Naveed Babu and suspended Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh earlier this year.
Early Friday, PPD President and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti and her daughter Iltija claimed that they had been detained at their residence to prevent them from visiting Parra’s home in Pulwama in southern Kashmir.
“His cruelty knows no limits. Waheed was arrested on unfounded charges and I can’t even comfort his family. Even my daughter Iltija has been put under house arrest because she also wanted to visit Waheed’s family, ”Mehbooba tweeted.
According to officials, during the investigation into Singh’s association with the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, the NIA found Mir’s phone records showing that he was in close contact with Parra.
Mir had claimed during questioning that Parra sought his support during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections for his party’s candidate Mehbooba Mufti, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and also president of the PDP, the officials said.
(With contributions from the agency)
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