Police have arrested and booked the mother of a slain Hizb ul Mujahideen militant under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), saying she was allegedly involved in recruiting two youths into militancy in 2018.
Naseema Bano, 57, wife of Abdul Salam Sheikh of Rampura village of Qaimoh in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, according to her relatives, was detained by a joint team of police and army from her residence on the night of June 20.
Bano, police said, has been arrested in a case with FIR No. 30 of 2018 under Sections 13B, 17, 18, 18B, 19, 39 of the UAPA.
“She was involved in a serious criminal case. Her photo in which she is toting an automatic weapon and posing next to her son who was an active militant at the time speaks it all. The photo is just the beginning of her criminal involvement,” the statement issued by police read.
It said her role has surfaced in recruiting at least two youths into militant ranks, arranging arms, ammunition, communication and logistics for militants.
“She has been under legally sanctioned custody in women police station Anantnag ever since her arrest,” the statement said.
“Just because she happens to be a woman or the mother of a killed militant does not make her immune to arrest. It is the prime duty of the police to arrest criminals to safeguard the people it serves and that is what it has done.
“Anyone who wishes to challenge the decision is free to approach the court of law for redressal,” the statement added.
Bano’s son Tauseef Sheikh had joined the militant ranks in 2013 and was killed in an encounter with security forces in May 2018 in Shopian district.
Her elder son, Farooq Ahmad Sheikh, relatives said, was arrested in November 2018 and is lodged at district jail Anantnag.
They said that at least seven of their extended family members were in different jails from past three years.
“Bano’s uncle Muhmad Ramzan Sheikh, a Jama’at member aged 70, was released recently after serving detentions in Jammu jails under PSA since 2016 on several occasions,” a relative said.
He said Muhamad Salman Sheikh, 21-year-old son of her slain brother, was also released recently from Jammu jail after more than two years. “Bano’s brother Ilyas is also in detention, so is her sister’s son Tajamaul, a post-graduate, for more than two years,” the relative said.
Tajamul’s brother was killed in an encounter in 2007, while his two other brothers have also been killed in gunfights with security forces in the mid-nineties and 2009.
Bano’s other brother, Abass Sheikh, is active in the Hizb ranks since 2014. The relatives said that security forces have been looking for Bano’s daughter. “The forces raided the house several times to arrest her but she has not returned home since June 20,” they said.