Srinagar, Dec 02, KDC: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) faced immediate and significant embarrassment on Tuesday when a special court in Jammu released Shafat Ahmed Shangloo, an accused in the 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, just one day after the agency had publicly announced his arrest as a major development.
The Court of the 3rd Additional District and Sessions Judge (TADA/POTA), Jammu, according to news agency Kashmir Dot Com (KDC), rejected the CBI’s request for judicial custody, stating that there was a lack of evidence to justify his continued detention.
The ruling came barely 24 hours after the CBI issued a press release on December 1, 2025, claiming that Shangloo had been an absconder for 35 years and carried a reward of ₹10 lakh. The agency had described the arrest as a breakthrough in one of the cases linked to the early phase of the Kashmir insurgency.
According to the CBI, Shangloo was identified as an alleged close associate and finance handler of the banned Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and a conspirator with JKLF chief Yasin Malik in the 1989 abduction. However, the TADA court found that this claim was not supported when the case records were examined.
Advocate Shafat Ahmad Dar, representing Shangloo, said that the CBI had filed an application in the TADA court seeking judicial custody on the ground that Shafat Ahmed Shangloo had been absconding for the last 35 years. He added that when the court examined the file, it did not find any such record against him.
The decision of the court, delivered in the presence of Senior Additional Advocate General Monika Kohli and a Special Public Prosecutor for the CBI, indicated that the agency did not present new or convincing evidence to support its claim that Shangloo had been an absconder or to justify keeping him in custody.
The CBI’s assertion regarding Shangloo’s status was further questioned when information surfaced showing that he had a visible public presence in the Kashmir Valley. Reports and social media activity showed that he was active socially and maintained a consistent online profile.
Shangloo often posted images from social gatherings and family events on his social media accounts, which was not consistent with the behavior of someone considered a ‘fugitive’. His last public post, dated November 29, two days before his arrest, featured a local resident from Jammu named Kuldeep Sharma and carried the caption “The Man with a Golden Heart”. The post discussed Sharma’s donation of a plot of land to a journalist whose house had recently been demolished, showing Shangloo’s involvement in community discussions up to the time of his arrest.
This raised questions about the thoroughness of the agency’s efforts, considering that a reward had been announced for Shangloo’s capture even though he was easily traceable on public platforms.
The 1989 kidnapping of Dr. Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of the then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, remains a significant event in India’s security history. Her release in exchange for five jailed JKLF members is often viewed as a moment that strengthened militant groups and contributed to the beginning of the insurgency in Kashmir.
The case continues before the TADA court, where charges were formally framed against Yasin Malik and nine others in 2021. Rubaiya Sayeed identified Malik as one of her abductors during a court hearing in 2022. Malik is currently serving a life sentence in a separate terror funding case.
Shangloo was among twelve accused persons, apart from the ten against whom charges were framed, who had been classified as absconders. His brief arrest followed by immediate release represents a setback for the CBI in its efforts to conclude the long pending trial. (KDC)
