Bribe,Murder & Militants-Congress Chief of J&K(Peerzada Mohammed Sayeed)

Who's this Dr Tabbasum?
From Ahmed Ali Fayyaz (Daily Excelsior)

SRINAGAR, Jan 17: Immediately after the Independent MLA Shoaib Lone took objection to the arrest of driver Altaf Noorani and alleged that the bribe of Rs 40,000 had been actually demanded and received by the Education Minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed's wife on June 22, 2007, Police and intelligence agencies have begun to delve deep into the accused woman's background.

According to official sources, Police agencies have learned that Peerzada Sayeed had married the wife of a slain militant within a year of the death of his first wife in 1998-99. He had no issue from his first wife who belonged to his Kokernag locality in Anantnag district. Tabbasum happens to be the daughter of one-time JKPCC Secretary Abdul Aziz Tourist who had in his lifetime managed to get her a special seat for MBBS course with the help of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1983-84.

After getting the job of an assistant surgeon in J&K Health Department, she developed good relations with the seniormost JKLF militant commanders in 1989-90. It was in the first year of insurgency in J&K that Dr Tabbasum married senior JKLF commander Pervez Billa, who lived in Chhattabal locality of Srinagar. While she became the mother of a male child, Pervez was captured and killed by militants of Hizbul Mujahideen on the allegation of having killed the outfit's "Intelligence Chief" Mamoon Rasheed as also the father of another top functionary of the organisation, namely Firdaus Kirmani, both residents of Chhattabal area.

Tabbasum's son from her militant husband, who is now 17-year-old, has been living with her and Peerzada after she married him in 1999. Later, she also became the mother of a male child from Peerzada. Four years back, she has been posted in Kashmir chapter of Red Cross, though officials have learned that she has never been on duty during this period. They say that she had been recommended for a course in anaesthesia but due to her preoccupation with the husband Minister's work, she refused to undertake the training. They have also learned that she had been taking keen interest in the Minister's official files and his public relations.

After his dismissal from service and admission into PDP, a former Director of Rural Development Department is said to be targeting the Minister's wife than the Minister for the corruption in which Peerzada was "neckdeep" according to former Chairman of J&K State Accountability Commission Justice R P Sethi. SAC has, later, absolved Peerzada of the charges levelled against him in Panchayat Ghar Electrification Scam.

Even when Peerzada was a Minister and he failed to stop a Srinagar newspaper's tirade against him in 2004, many people here believed that editor of the Urdu daily was kidnapped and silenced by activists of a separatist group on the instigation of his wife.

Rubiya Syed kidnapping case Yasin Malik among others appear in TADA court
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 3: The accused involved in the much publicized Rubiya Syed kidnapping case appeared in the Court of TADA today. However, all the cases including that of one lakh US dollar were adjourned because of the strike of the advocates.
The alleged accused appeared in the TADA court were Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) supremo Mohd Yaseen Malik, Showkat Ahmed Bakshi, Ali Mohd Mir, Javid Mir alias Nalka, Mehraj-ud-Din Sheikh, Mohd Iqbal Gandroo, Mohd Zaman Mir and Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta-Karate.
Other accused Mohd Yaqoob Pandit, Wajahat Bashir Qureshi, Manzoor Ahmed Sofi and Mohd Rafiq alias Nanaji were absent and their names were exempted from hearing on the application filed on their behalf.
The most important case which was listed for hearing today was of kidnapping of Dr Rubiya Syed, daughter of the then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohd Syed.
The other listed cases were killing of five Air Force officials at Batmaloo on January 1990 and seizure of one lakh US dollars meant for the JKLF supremo.
It is worthwhile to mention here that the cases of kidnapping of Dr Rubiya Syed and killing of Air Force personals have been pending before the Court for the last more than 15 years as all the alleged accused involved in the cases were not appearing before the Court.

Pak sets free 4 hijackers
ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: Pakistan today freed four Palestinians convicted of the 1986 hijacking of an American airliner in Karachi that ended with the death of 22 people including an Indian flight purser Neerja Bhanot, who helped passengers aboard escape.
The hijackers, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, were set free from Adiala jail in Rawalpindi and put on an international flight to the Gulf region, local TV channels reported.
A group of Palestinians hijacked a Pan Am Boeing 747 carrying 400 passengers while it was being parked at the Apron in Karachi in September 1986. The cockpit crew escaped through the emergency hatch but senior flight purser Bhanot stayed on helping passengers escape.
Twenty-two people, including Bhanot, died when Pakistani commandos stormed the flight to end the 16-hour siege. Bhanot was awarded Ashok Chakra posthumously by the Indian Government. She was at that time the youngest and till date the only woman Ashok Chakra awardee.
The Palestinians were handed down the death penalty during the regime of late Gen Zia-ul-Haq for hijacking the plane. One of the hijackers, who was injured in the commando operation, died in jail.
The sentence of the others was later converted to life imprisonment in 1988 when slain Premier Benazir Bhutto was in power.(PTI)