PDP leader sought Hizbul’s support ahead of 2019 polls

New Delhi, Dec 29: Jailed PDP leader, Waheed Ur Rehman Para, who won the District Development Council (DDC) polls from Pulwama is alleged to have paid the Hizbul Mujahideen to get the outfit's support ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Para was arrested ahead of the DDC polls in Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the probe relating to suspended DySP Davinder Singh's links to the Hizbul Mujahideen.

While Para in his bail application has denied all links to the outfit, the NIA has learnt that the money was paid to Hizbul Mujahideen operative Naveed Babu through Singh. The money was carried in a tiffin box after being collected at the Srinagar airport where Singh was posted, the NIA also found.

The NIA in its July 2020 chargesheet said that Singh had been sheltering Hizbul terrorists. He was also accused of aiding and abetting their activities. Singh is alleged to have brought Naveed Babu, Mir Irfan and Rafi Rather from Shopian to Srinagar. They set out to Jammu, from where they were planning on going to New Delhi.

However before he could leave, the police arrested him.

NIA in July filed a chargesheet against six people, including suspended Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Davinder Singh, for alleged terror activities in the country, officials said.

Besides Singh, the chargesheet also names banned Hizbul Mujahideen commander Syed Naveed Mushtaq alias Naveed Babu as well as the group's alleged overground worker Irfan Shafi Mir and its member Rafi Ahmad Rather. The other two named are Tanveer Ahmad Wani, a trader, and Naveed Babu's brother Syed Irfan Ahmad, officials said.

Singh, who was arrested in January this year, is alleged to have established contact with officials of the Pakistan High Commission through secure social media platforms, officials said.