Jammu & Kashmir: A special court for the second time in five months rejected the bail plea of Waheed ur Rehman Parra, a People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader and a confidante of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. While turning down his bail plea earlier in February, the court had said the charges against him were "serious" and that he was allegedly "supporting militia activities".
A court official said the hearing of Parra's case was being recorded on camera and the decision taken by the court regarding his bail would be made public the next day. Parra, a young leader of the PDP, had won the District Development Council election from Pulwama by 1,008 votes on December 22. He has been lodged in jail since November 25 last year and he is the first candidate from the Valley to win despite being in jail.
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Five days after his nomination was filed, the National Investigating Agency (NIA) arrested Waheed in New Delhi. When the Union government revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, Parra had already been in jail for six months. He is accused of being involved in a major militancy case involving Jammu and Kashmir police officer Devinder Singh -- he is currently lodged in Jammu jail in a case of allegedly waging "war against India" with the help of Pakistan-based terror groups.
On December 19, 2020, a special judge of the NIA had sentenced Parra to 30 days jail term after which he was shifted to Jammu's Amfala Jail. He had allegedly approached Irfan Shafi Mir, who was arrested along with Hizbul Mujahideen militant Naveed Babu.
