KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
The family members of a South Kashmir youth Monday said that their Mushtaq Ahmed Lone is on hunger strike from past 17 days in Tihar jail while measures are taken to ensure his safety and he is “even not moved to any hospital for medical check-up”.
Abdul Hamid, the father of the youth, who is a resident of Kenalwan Bijbehara told CNS that his son Mushtaq Ahmed Lone has been kept in High Risk Ward of Jail number 8 of Tihar jail from past one and a half year and till date no investigation has been taken up to prove his grounds of detention.
“He is on hunger strike and has been demanding that he should be shifted to Srinagar. The jail authorities there have been ‘maltreating’ him and we fail to understand on what grounds he has been lodged there,” the family members said.
They said that in June 2014, then SHO Bijbehara informed Mushtaq on phone to report at police station Rajbagh. “Mushtaq, a shopkeeper, who was recently married, was allowed to go home after being questioned by a team of National Investigating Agency (NIA) at police station Rajbagh. Next day, he again received a call from a police official who directed him to report at PS Rajbagh again and since then he has been in the ‘illegal’ custody of NIA. Mushtaq has been lodged in Tihar Jail and we still don’t know what he has done. We are told that he is involved in Hawala racket. Mushtaq is innocent. No charge sheet against him has been produced by NIA yet in any court of law. He is under trial and can be put to trial in Kashmir also,” they said and added that due to continuous hunger strike, his health has deteriorated and “no efforts are made to ensure his safety”.
The family members said that Mushtaq “was never involved in militancy and even during the hey-days of militancy in Kashmir”, “he was doing his routine job. His only fault is that he is religious and had been preaching the students in local religious institution,” they said.
“We appeal to the Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed who is also the Home Minister of Jammu and Kashmir to personally intervene into the matter and shift our son to some other jail in Srinagar, till investigation is completed.”
