Rubaiya Sayeed appeared before a special CBI court on Friday in connection with her 1989 abduction and identified JKLF chief Yasin Malik and three others as the ones who kidnapped her.

All you need to know about her kidnapping case

Rubaiya Sayeed is the daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and former Union minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. 

On December 8, 1989, Sayeed, who was a medical intern, was returning home from Lal Ded Memorial Hospital when she was kidnapped by armed terrorists in Srinagar. This abduction took place six days after her father took over as the Union Home Minister.

The JKLF claimed responsibility for the abduction and said that they would free Sayeed only if five terrorists were released. The terrorists were eventually released and Rubaiya Sayeed was freed after remaining in captivity for five days.

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The kidnapping turned out to be a turning point in the Valley’s volatile history. The release of the five terrorists was seen as a morale booster for terror groups, which had started raising their heads at the time.

The case was taken over by the CBI the following year but put on hold for almost two decades. The case was revived after the arrest of Yasin Malik by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2019 on charges of terror funding. 

In January last year, the CBI framed charges against 10 people, including Malik, in the Rubaiya kidnapping case.

Others charged in the case are Ali Mohammed Mir, Mohammed Zaman Mir, Iqbal Ahmad Gandroo, Javed Ahmad Mir, Mohammedd Rafiq Pahloo, Manzoor Ahmed Sofi, Wajahat Bashir, Mehraj-ud-Din Sheikh and Showkat Ahmad Bakshi.

During the investigation, accused Ali Mohammad Mir, Zaman Mir and Iqbal Gandroo voluntarily confessed before a magistrate about his role in the Rubaiya kidnapping. 

Rubaiya appeared before a special CBI court on Friday and identified Malik, who was present in the court through video conferencing.

“This is the person and his name is Yasin Malik. He was the man who threatened me that he will drag me out of the minibus if I refused to follow their diktat,” Rubaiya told the judge.

She later identified him again through the pictures that were shown in the court.