Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Wednesday arrested the PDP’s youth president Waheed-ur-Rehman Para in connection with the suspended DySP Devender Singh and Hizbul Mujahideen commander Naveed Babu’s arrest case.
Para’s arrest comes after NIA questioned him for two days at its New Delhi Headquarters.
Sources in NIA confirmed to ETV Bharat about Para's arrest, without divulging details more details about his arrest.
Family sources of Para too confirmed that they were informed by the NIA about the arrest of Waheed today afternoon.
On January 12 this year, DySP Devender Singh, along with Hizbul Mujahideen commander Naveed Babu besides a lawyer from Shopian, Irfan Shafi, were arrested at Qazigund in Kulgam district while travelling in a vehicle from Srinagar to Jammu.
NIA in July filed chargesheet against Davinder Singh for supporting militancy and receiving terror finding from Pakistan.
Reacting to Para's arrest, PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said that Waheed is being falsely charged and it is done just to blackmail and intimidate PDP & other mainstream political parties in J&K.
"BJP milks illegal scrapping of Article 370 in every nook & corner of the country. But when it comes to Kashmiris questioning its abrogation they are locked up & punished. Everyone knows at whose behest Devinder Singh worked for. Ironic that they have the gall to blame others," Mehbooba tweeted after the arrest of Waheed.
"I can personally vouch for Waheed’s integrity, honesty & character. Its upto the judiciary now to dispense justice & ensure @parawahid is released at the earliest," she said.
Waheed, 34, has been associated with PDP for over a decade and has been instrumental in motivating youth in the UT towards mainstream politics.
Waheed had filed nomination to contest upcoming DDC elections from Pulwama constituency.
In 2016, during public unrest after the killing of HM commander, he had gathered nearly thousands of youth to the convention of former home minister Rajnath Singh which was held in Indoor Stadium in Srinagar.
Waheed, who has done masters degree in Peace and Conflict studies from Islamic University of Science and Technology, Awantipora in 2010, joined PDP in the same year and has been very influential in the party and in power corridors.
He was among the mainstream leaders who were arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir administration after abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year.
In a statement released by the PDP after the arrest of Waheed, the party said that his arrest ahead of the DDC polls is a clear attempt by a central agency meddling into the electoral process and influencing it in favor of the cronies of New Delhi.
"PDP leadership outrightly condemns New Delhi’s latest ruthless action against its youth leader who was a beacon of change in the society and always upheld the values and principles of nonviolence and democratic engagement," the statement said.
Waheed’s arrest signals the level of depravity to which the BJP and RSS can go in targeting and damaging its political opponents.
"These actions of New Delhi will not deter the PDP. Our actions and our voices will become louder. His return for investing his past, present and future in the democratic functioning of a volatile zone such as Kashmir has cost him his own freedom," the statement said.
