Srinagar: The family members and relatives of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Salahuddin on Saturday said they will court arrest if the state government failed to stop their “harassment” by the investigative agencies.
Sources said that around 50 elders from Soibugh – ancestral village of Salahuddin in central Kashmir – met with the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Superintendent of Police (SP) Budgam “to convey their concerns over the harassment of Salahuddin’s family.”
“The elders told the officials the family has been peacefully living with them since they have known one another,” said a source, who was also part of the meetings.
The family and the residents of Soibugh village, according to the source, threatened to court arrest if the “harassment” was not immediately stopped.
“We will court arrest and the responsibility of any untoward happening will lie with the state government,” they said.
Pertinently, one of Salahuddin’s son was arrested earlier this week by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) after he was summoned by the central probe agency to its Delhi headquarter.
A Delhi court sent Syed Shahid Yousuf to seven days NIA custody in connection with a 2011 funding case for allegedly receiving money from his father.
Yousuf, who was arrested on October 24 by National Investigation Agency (NIA), was produced before District and Sessions Judge Poonam A Bamba, who allowed the probe agency’s plea for his custody.
42-year-old Shahid works in the agricultural department of the Jammu and Kashmir government.
The NIA alleged that Shahid used to receive funds through a US-based international wire transfer company from Aijaz Ahmed Bhat, another accused in the case who is absconding and is reported to be based in Saudi Arabia.
After his arrest, the family had issued a statement, claiming that Shahid was arrested to “pressurize Salahuddin to submission”.
In the statement, the family while maintaining that Shahid was innocent, said his arrest was an “age-old tactic by the Delhi government to harass the family and to defame our father.”
On Friday, Salahuddin’s grandson was also summoned by the probe agency for “questioning” at their Delhi headquarter.
Muzammil Ahmad Khan, only son of Salahuddin’s daughter, has done his B.Tech from Pakistan and puts up at Daharmuna, two kilometers from Salahuddin’s ancestral home.
