Srinagar: Chairman Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Liberation Party (DLP), Hashim Qureshi has said that the recent action of NIA of picking up seven Hurriyat activists and arrest of Shabir Shah and taking them out of Kashmir to New Delhi for appearing before NIA for investigation appears a pre-planned move. About twenty-nine people comprise the group who has been summoned to New Delhi for questioning.
In a statement issued to KNS, Qureshi said that it appears a political vendetta. He added that NIA could have conducted investigation in Kashmir to which place these people belong instead of taking them all the way to Delhi. It is rather unusual to take this large number of people all the way to Delhi, and the inference is that the NIA does not trust its regional office in the State and the Kashmir courts? Sections f people look at this episode as political revenge.
He added that this entire process needs to be handled in a way that it does not become a story of political revenge but should be only meting out justice on the basis of ground reality.
Qureshi has demanded that many of the detained people are ailing and are under medication. They must be provided with proper medical assistance. He further added that investigation into their involvement in any undesirable activity should be conducted within the State where the judicial services are available so that the family members of the accused persons are not frustrated.
According to law an accused person is innocent until a case is proved against him and punishment delivered.
Hashim Qureshi also demanded that media trial against the accused persons should be stopped forthwith. (KNS)