Tainted J&K cop claims threat to life

SRINAGAR: Tainted Jammu and Kashmir police officer Davinder Singh and four others, including two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) militants, and their two alleged “over-ground workers” were on Friday sent to 15-day judicial custody by a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Jammu.

While Mr Singh was soon sent to Hiranagar jail in J&K’s Kathua district, the others — HM militants Syed Naveed Mushtaq alias Naveed Babu and Asif Ahmed Rather, Kashmiri lawyer Irfan Shafi Mir and Syed Irfan Ahmed — were lodged in high-security Kotbalwal jail on the outskirts of winter capital Jammu. Both Mir and Syed Irfan who is a brother of Naveed Babu have been accused of being the HM’s OWGs.

Mr Singh had earlier pleaded before the judge that he may face a serious threat to his life if he too is lodged in Kotbalwal prison as among its inmates are several militants he had arrested when serving in the J&K police’s counterinsurgency special operations group (SOG). The judge after allowing Mr Singh’s plea passed directions to the authorities to lodge him in some different jail.

Mr Singh was arrested along with Naveed Babu, one of the most wanted HM militants, and Rather in Kashmir’s Kulgam district on January 11.

Mr Singh, who was posted as deputy superintendent of police at the anti-hijacking squad at Srinagar international airport, has been placed under suspension  after he was arrested travelling with militant duo in a Hyundai i20 car along the highway connecting J&K’s twin capitals — Srinagar and Jammu. They were reportedly on their way to Chandigarh. The authorities have also recommended to the government that Singh may be dismissed from service.

Investigations had reportedly revealed that Mr Singh had accompanied militants or helped them in relocating to various parts of country on different occasions in lieu of money and other considerations. However, the Centre later asked the NIA to probe the case.