Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid walks out of Tihar jail on interim bail
New Delhi, Sep 11: Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid walked out of Tihar Jail on Wednesday, a day after a court here granted him interim bail till October 2 in a terror funding case so that he can campaign in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls.
Talking to reporters outside the jail, he said that he would continue to fight for his people. Rashid's sons and supporters welcomed him after he walked out of the prison.
Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, has been in jail since 2019 following his arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the 2017 terror funding case.
"He was released from jail at 4.15 pm," said a senior prison official.
He defeated former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Baramulla. Rashid's outfit Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) is contesting the assembly elections.
"I was in jail for five-and-a-half years. I am committed to fighting for my people. I am coming back to unite people and not divide them," he told reporters outside Tihar.
"I want to bring everlasting peace to Kashmir and prove that Kashmiris are not stone pelters. But we will not compromise with our political rights," he said, adding, "I will fight the prime minister's narrative of Naya Kashmir."
National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said Rashid has been granted bail to fetch votes from the people of Kashmir and not to serve them.
About People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti describing Rashid's Awami Ittehad Party as a proxy for the BJP, Abdullah said while he was being very cautious on the issue, "it is good that she has stated openly what many people were thinking".
Lashing out at Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, Rashid on Wednesday alleged that they have "destroyed" Kashmir.
Polling for Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in three phases -- September 18, September 25 and October 1. The results will be declared on October 8.
Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh ordered Rashid's release on interim bail on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and a surety of the like amount. He also imposed certain conditions on him, including that he would not speak to the media about the case.
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Man kills woman lecturer, sets car ablaze; dies by suicide in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): A 46-year-old man allegedly killed a woman lecturer by setting fire to the car with her inside, before dying by suicide; his severed body was found by railway police the next day, police said on Tuesday.
The deceased, identified as Ramanjinappa, a resident of Doddaballapura, was a contract worker in the tahsildar’s office, they said.
Police said the man, who was married and had apparently separated from his wife, was in an illicit relationship with a woman identified as Saroja, whose charred body was found inside a gutted car in an isolated area near the Bashetty Industrial Area in Doddaballapura taluk on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Saroja was also married and had a son, police said.
According to police, on Saturday, the man allegedly borrowed a car from an acquaintance, claiming he had a medical emergency and needed to visit a hospital.
Citing preliminary investigations, a senior police officer said the man picked up the lecturer from a bus stop in Devanahalli. The two spent a couple of hours driving around Nandi Hills and nearby areas.
Later, they reached a secluded spot in Doddaballapura, where it is suspected that an argument ensued inside the car, following which he allegedly hit her on the head with a hammer, the officer said.
He then set the car on fire, reportedly using petrol, and is believed to have died by suicide thereafter, police said.
Locals who saw the burning car alerted the police and fire department, who rushed to the spot, extinguished the fire, and found the woman’s body completely charred inside the vehicle, the officer added.
His severed body was found near railway tracks in Bidadi by the railway police on Sunday, he said.
The motive and whether the crime was premeditated or impulsive are under investigation, he said.
Saroja’s husband filed a complaint accusing Ramanjinappa of killing her, police said, adding that a detailed investigation is underway to establish the exact sequence of events.
