Police Arrests a South Kashmir Resident After Deportation from Qatar

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Police has arrested a resident of South Kashmir’s Kanelwan village of Bijbehara on charges of being an “over ground worker” for proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit following his deportation from Qatar.

According to police, Muneeb Ahmed Sofi was arrested by a team of Kulgam police at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Friday after he was deported from the West Asian country.

In a statement, the police claimed that Muneeb was involved in case FIR No. 58/2020 u/s 13,18,19,38,39 ULA (P) of police station Devsar regarding collection of “funds for terror outfit JeM.”

The arrest, police said, was made during the course of investigation during which an accused revealed that he along with another were collecting money from various districts in Kashmir Valley for the banned JeM outfit.

“Thereafter the said collected amount was handed over to Muneeb Ahmad Sofi who was staying in Qatar and was in contact with a Pakistan-based terrorist, namely, Waleed Bhai for purchasing of arms and ammunition from Pakistan,” the police claimed.

Waleed Bhai, the police added, was eliminated in an encounter at Kulgam last year. “A look out notice was published against Muneeb and a non-bailable warrant under Section 25 Police Act was obtained from the concerned court. Consequent to deportation of the accused from Qatar to India, he was apprehended at IGI Airport and is being brought to Kulgam for further questioning and investigation,” the police statement said.

A security official posted in South Kashmir told NewsClick that Muneeb had left for Qatar on the “pretext of employment”, however, got involved in the collection of funds for over a year now.

Muneeb, the official alleged, was networking through social media. Another official said that Muneeb’s family were informed recently about his alleged activities in Qatar where he was working in a private company.

Muneeb was held briefly in Qatar by the authorities before his departure and was finally held by the Jammu and Kashmir police on his arrival at IGI airport in New Delhi.

Qatar is among one of the 43 countries with whom India shares bilateral agreements and memorandum of understanding on “Security Cooperation and Prevention of and Combating Illicit Trafficking of Narcotic drugs, Psychotropic substances and Chemical precursors.”

The Ministry of External Affairs, however, has not listed the West Asian country as one of the countries with whom India has a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty that makes extradition of Indian citizens possible.