J&K Assembly Election 2024: Engineer Rashid set to return to Tihar as bail ends on Oct 2

Srinagar: As the final phase of polling concluded in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, Baramulla MP and Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, will be back in Tihar Jail on October 3.

Maverick politician Rashid was granted interim bail by a Delhi court on September 10 till October 2 to allow him to campaign for the Assembly polls. His controversial past and current charges highlight the complexities of Jammu and Kashmir’s political landscape.

Rashid -- who earlier riding high on a sympathy wave -- defeated National Conference vice president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah in the Lok Sabha election from Baramulla seat, is facing charges in a terror funding case and has been lodged in Tihar jail since 2019.

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In the last three weeks of campaigning Rashid and his AIP has been accused by the NC and PDP of being unleashed on the assembly battleground as part of BJP's strategy to divide votes in Kashmir to dent the mainstream parties. Rashid, however, says otherwise. "I am a victim of BJP; I will fight against PM Modi's ideology till my last breath.”

In the run-up to Lok Sabha elections, his two sons led his campaign, drawing large crowds as they sought votes for their jailed father.

The AIP has fielded 34 candidates in the assembly elections and Rashid’s younger brother, Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh, is one of the candidates from Langate seat in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. The seat was earlier represented by Rashid in 2008 and 2014.

The three phases J&K Assembly election ended on October 1 and the counting of votes is scheduled for October 8.

NIA charges against Rashid

Rashid was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), in August 2019, soon after the abrogation of Article 370, in a case of terror funding. According to the NIA chargesheet, Rashid was accumulating funds through JKLF, which were being remitted through cash couriers to “foment anti-national activities” in the valley. 

The NIA relied on the alleged statement of a witness who claimed to have worked for Rashid from 2011 to 2014, and claimed to have seen alleged hawala dealer Zahoor Ahmad Shah (Watali) give an envelope with money to Rashid.

Assembly Elections 2024 | In the first assembly polls since the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi and the BJP face a rejuvenated and vindicated Opposition in the Haryana assembly polls. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir is voting after almost a decade and it remains to be seen how the abrogation of Article 370 has impacted the political landscape of the Valley. Track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.