Representational photo showing a gavel.
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Srinagar: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday suffered a significant setback in the decades-old Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping case after a TADA court in Jammu rejected its plea seeking custody of Shafat Ahmad Shungloo, an accused who was arrested from Srinagar a day earlier.
The court ordered his release, dealing a blow to the agency’s renewed attempts to push forward the high-profile 1989 case.
Shungloo, on whom the CBI had announced a ₹10 lakh reward, was believed by investigators to be linked to the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and allegedly associated with its incarcerated chief, Yasin Malik.
His arrest on Monday had sparked anticipation that the agency might secure a new breakthrough in the 36-year-old investigation.
The CBI had produced him before the designated TADA court on Tuesday, seeking custodial interrogation to confront him with evidence gathered over the years. However, the court refused to grant the remand, citing insufficient grounds for custody, and ordered his release.
The case has seen fresh momentum over the past two years as the CBI intensified efforts to trace absconding suspects and consolidate evidence.
The Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping — one of the most defining incidents of insurgency-era Kashmir — took place on December 8, 1989, when JKLF operatives abducted the daughter of then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Her release, secured after the government freed five jailed JKLF militants, is widely regarded by historians and security officials as a turning point that emboldened militant groups and accelerated the insurgency.
The case was revived in 2019 after TADA proceedings were reopened, following which Rubaiya Sayeed appeared in court for the first time in 2022 and identified several accused, including Yasin Malik.
Malik, already sentenced in a separate terror-funding case, faces trial in both the kidnapping and several related terror cases from the late 1980s.
Shungloo’s release is being seen as a procedural and investigative setback for the CBI, which has been attempting to tighten loose ends in the long-pending case.
Officials said the agency may pursue further legal steps, but the denial of custody has slowed momentum at a time when the investigation was moving with renewed urgency.