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| Govt fails to give sanction to prosecution | | Kandhar hijacker gets default bail | |
Asif Iqbal Naik
KISHTWAR, Mar 20: Key ISI man and accused in infamous 1999 Kandhar hijacking case Mehraj Din Dand son of Ghulam Ahmed Dand resident of Krank Shivan Sopore Kashmir arrested by Kishtwar police in September 2012 today got default bail from the Munsif Court (acting CJM Kishtwar) as police failed to produce challan against him in stipulated 180 days. The delay, according to police sources was caused by failure of the Government to give sanction to prosecution as required by Section 10/18-B of Unlawful Activities Act.
Dand was today produced in the court of Munsif Judge in connection with the FIR No: 67/2013 registered against the Dand at police station Chatroo. Dand was arrested by police while he was on his way to Srinagar from Nepal via Kishtwar-Sinthan-Srinagar Highway. After hearing the arguments from defense as well as from public prosecutor, Munsif Judge found that the accused Mehraj Din had already spent 180 days in police and judicial custody and there is no reason to extend his custody as per the law and order for his release subject to the furnishing of surety bond of Rs 1 lakh. The court while granting bail directed the accused not to leave the State without prior permission of the police and also directed him to co-operate with the investigation agencies.
The 44 year old Mehraj-ud-Din Dand allegedly supplied weapons and travel documents to Kandhar Hijackers in Kathmandu through the then Pakistani diplomat in Nepal Arshad Chema and Zia-ul-Islam. Chema was then 1st secretary, while Zia was the 2nd secretary in Pakistan embassy in Nepal. It was Arshad Chema who handed over the weapons concealed inside the briefcase to one of the hijackers; hours before the IC-814 flight take off from Kathmandu and later hijacked by five militants.
During his interrogation with Jammu and Kashmir Police, Mehraj-ud-Din told about the Pakistani prime intelligence ISI plans to target major cities across India, beside some top most politicians including former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishen Advani, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad and Dr Farooq Abdullah. It was Mehraj-ud-Din along with ISI and other militant organizations who plans to attack on Dr Farooq Abdullah soon after he took over as the Chief Minister of trouble hit Jammu and Kashmir in the year 1996.
Mehraj-ud-Din along with ISI top most officials also formulated several plans to target politicians like Advani, Azad, Modi, beside several other politicians. During police investigation it came to the fore that Mehraj-ud-Din happened to be a close associate and right hand man of Syed Sallahudin, chief of Pakistani based amalgam of militant organization United Jihad Council. He allegedly crossed over to Pakistan occupied Kashmir soon after Muslim United front lost badly in 1987 election.
After losing 1987 election, Mehraj-ud-Din along with four other associates including Mohammad Yousaf Shah now known as Syed Sallahudin, Abdullah Bangru, Yaseen Malik and Ashfaq Majid Wani crossed over to PoK for arms training. All the five persons after returning from PoK launched arms struggle in Jammu and Kashmir.
He reportedly crossed over to PoK many times before he finally decided to settle in Pakistan and played an important role in planning major terror strikes in India including that of 1996 Lajpat Nagar blast in Delhi.
As per police investigation, the accused Dand shifted to Nepal and married a Hindu girl by introducing himself as Papu Kumar and in the meantime, the accused Mehraj-din-Din established his base in Nepal and started operating his terror activities from the Nepal soil.
He during his 15 year stay in Nepal traveled to many gulf countries on fake Pakistani passport with different names. During his visit to gulf countries, the accused allegedly established contact with "D" company of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and started operating as hawala operator supplying money to various terror organizations in India.
During his interrogation, Mehraj-ud-Din also gave details about his relation with Syed Salahuddin and Dawood Ibrahim, who both figured in the list of 20 most wanted fugitives required by Government of India, the list of which was also submitted to Pakistan. Mehraj during his 25 long years has worked for almost all militant organizations including Islamic Front, Muslim Mujahiddin, Hizbul Mujahiddin, Jeish, Lashkar and others. He also remained in jail for 2/3 years under Public Safety Act in early 90's. He used to live in Nepal and had hideouts across India. Mehraj-ud-Din denied all the allegations leveled against him by the police.
He was arrested in a well coordinated plan of Kishtwar police and Intelligence Bureau (IB) on September 9 when he was traveling in a Trevera vehicle by a police team led by Sub Inspector Shiv Krishan Sharma.
He was allegedly assigned with the job of reviving the militancy in South Kashmir with the help of few militants who had successfully managed to infiltrate to this side of border in last few months before his arrest. The police recovered few identity cards of accused Mehraj-ud-Din with different names at the time of his arrest. Jammu and Kashmir Police while counting its success at the time of arrest of Dand termed his arrest as a "big catch". |
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