Delhi court seeks NIA response on jailed Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid bail plea

New Delhi [India] August 21: The Delhi's Patiala House Court on Wednesday sought a response from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) regarding the bail plea of jailed MP Sheikh Andul Rashid, popularly known as 'Engineer Rashid'.

Rashid, who recently won the Baramulla seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by defeating former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, was arrested in connection with a 2017 Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case.

The Addional Sessions Judge Chanderjit Singh on Tuesday issued notice to the NIA and fixed August 28 for arguements on his bail plea.

Engineer Rashid has submitted a second regular bail application in Delhi's Patiala House court.

Earlier, the same court had granted Rashid a two-hour custody parole on July 5 to allow him to take the oath as a Member of Parliament.

In 2005, Engineer Rashid was arrested by the Special Operations Group (SOG) in Srinagar for allegedly supporting militants and was held for three months and 17 days. He faced charges of anti-national activities and was incarcerated in Cargo, Humhama, and Raj Bagh prisons. However, the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Srinagar later dropped all charges against him on humanitarian grounds.

In August 2019, Rashid was again arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). During his incarceration, he filed his nomination for the 2024 parliamentary elections from jail and won by a margin of 204,000 votes, defeating former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.