Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Nov 25: National Investigation Agency (NIA) today arrested People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra in connection with DySP Davender Singh and Naveed Babu’s case.
Parra who was already summoned by NIA to New Delhi two days ago for questioning was taken into custody by NIA sleuths at its Noida headquarters.
The PDP leader was questioned for alleged Hawala money used for subversive activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
Parra was earlier detained on August 5, 2019 when Article 370 was scrapped and Jammu and Kashmir was split into two UTs of J&K and Ladakh. He was freed after six months of long detention in February this year.
On January 12, DySP Devender Singh, along with Hizbul Mujahideen commander Naveed Babu besides a lawyer were arrested while travelling in a vehicle from Srinagar to Jammu on January 19, this year.
The PDP in a statement said: “Ahead of the DDC election, which was purportedly supposed to give an opportunity to a new youth leadership in Jammu and Kashmir, the Government of India through its ruthless brigade arrested Waheed Ur Rehman Parra.”
The PDP said that he was arrested as he was contesting the DDC elections and described it as meddling into electoral process by Government of India. “PDP’s youth leader Waheed Parra was supposed to contest the polls from his home constituency in Pulwama. He was arrested immediately after filing the nomination for the polls – a clear attempt by a Central agency meddling into the electoral process and influencing it in favour of the cronies of New Delhi. PDP leadership outrightly condemns New Delhi’s latest ruthless action against its youth leader who was a beacon of change in the society and always upheld the values and principles of non-violence and democratic engagement,” the statement said.
It said that Parra’s arrest signals the level of depravity to which the BJP and RSS can go in targeting and damaging its political opponents. These actions of New Delhi will not deter the PDP. “Our actions and our voices will become louder,” it added.
“Even after being placed under detention as well as house arrest for more than a year, his belief in democracy and in the power of people’s mandate led him to file his nomination for DDC elections. And his return for investing his past, present and future in the democratic functioning of a volatile zone such as Kashmir has cost him his own freedom”, the PDP statement said.
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