JAMMU, December 2, 2025 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday sought the custody of Shafat Ahmed Shangloo, recently arrested in the 35-year-old case of the kidnapping of Rubaiyya Sayeed, daughter of then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Shangloo, arrested on Monday after evading authorities for decades, carried a reward of ₹10 lakh. He is accused of being part of a conspiracy executed by members of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). Investigators describe him as a close associate of JKLF chief Yasin Malik and an important functionary who handled the outfit’s finances.
CBI lawyer S. K. Bhat confirmed that Shangloo was produced before the special TADA court in Jammu, where the agency sought his custodial interrogation. The court’s order is awaited.
According to the CBI, Shangloo played a role in coordinating with Malik and other JKLF operatives under the Ranbir Penal Code and TADA Act during the 1989 abduction. The agency’s spokesperson noted that he had been apprehended from his residence in Srinagar’s Nishat area in a joint operation with J&K Police.
Background of the Case
Rubaiyya Sayeed was abducted on December 8, 1989, outside Lal Ded Hospital in Srinagar. She was released five days later after the V. P. Singh-led government, supported then by the BJP, freed five jailed militants in exchange—an incident that drastically altered Kashmir’s security and political landscape.
Rubaiyya Sayeed, now residing in Tamil Nadu, has already identified several accused — including Yasin Malik — during court proceedings. Malik, currently lodged in Tihar Jail in a terror funding case, is not produced physically in court due to Home Ministry restrictions.
The CBI revived the long-pending case after fresh charges were framed against Malik and nine others, and appointed senior counsel Monika Kohli as chief prosecutor to expedite trial proceedings.
Malik, 56, was convicted by a special NIA court last year in a separate terror-funding case and has been in custody since 2019.
