Got clean chit from agencies: Sadia Shaikh

Pune: Sadia Shaikh (18) – the Pune girl who was under the scanner of the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) police last month over suspicions that she could be a suicide bomber set to strike on the country’s Republic Day – on Monday rebutted all allegations against her and said that she had gone to that state to take admission in a college on January 16. 

“Investigating agencies have given me a clean chit after an in-depth investigation. And I was not arrested or caught by the police or agencies but I myself surrendered to the police when news about me started cropping up in the media.”

Ms Shaikh on Monday interacted with the media in Pune to explain that she was undergoing an ordeal after the media labeled her a terrorist, following suspicions on January 23. The Kashmir police sent an alert to the Pune police on January 24 about Ms Shaikh. Ms Shaikh said, “I went to Kashmir on January 16 to take admission in a college. I was staying in south Kashmir. On January 25, I read the news about me that a Pune girl was going to explode herself on or around January 26 near the Parade Ground. I was shocked.”

“I went to Kashmir police and told them about the news about me. Later, the police, intelligence agencies investigated into why I was in Kashmir. They could not find anything as I had nothing to hide. Thus, I was given clean chit,” she said.

Ms Shaikh said she had got influenced by the ISIS in 2015 when she was just 16 but after counseling, she was de-radicalised within a month.