Engineer Rashid Granted Interim Bail in Terror Funding Case to Campaign in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024

Delhi's special NIA court on Tuesday granted interim bail to Lok Sabha MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid until October 2 in connection with a terror funding case. Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, secured the bail to participate in the upcoming Jammu & Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024.

Delhi's special NIA court has granted interim bail to parliamentarian Rashid Engineer in connection with a terror funding case. The bail, effective until October 2, 2024, is granted to enable him to campaign for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections pic.twitter.com/SeSi5BeFK8

— IANS (@ians_india) September 10, 2024

Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh approved Rashid's request for interim bail. Rashid, who won the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Baramulla, had previously been granted custody parole on July 5 to take the oath of office as a member of Parliament.

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Rashid has been imprisoned since 2019, following his arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in relation to a 2017 terror funding investigation. He is currently detained at Tihar Jail.

The court has scheduled a decision on Rashid's regular bail application for Wednesday. Rashid's involvement in the case emerged during the NIA's investigation into Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who was accused of financing terrorist groups and separatists in the Kashmir Valley. According to reports, the charge sheet in the case includes prominent figures such as Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin. Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2022 after pleading guilty.