Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief Yasin Malik was on Tuesday arrested and remanded to judicial custody till July 18 in a Terrorist and Disruptive Activities case for allegedly 'aiding and abetting' terrorist activities in the valley.
Malik, who was arrested in Jammu, was brought here and produced before Additional Sessions Judge S N Dhingra following a non-bailable arrest warrant issued against him by the court for non-appearance during the trial.
The TADA court sent Malik to Tihar jail till July 18 when it would record his statement in the case.The court said his bail application moved through counsel R M Tufail would be entertained after the statement is recorded.
Appearing in court, Malik, who has a history of cardiac illness, said he was unable to attend the hearing on the previous date as he was admitted to the state hospital in Srinagar.
"The court may get it verified and if found false, cancel my bail permanently," the JKLF chief said.
Pleading his case, Tufail said ever since bail was granted to Malik in this case, the government had arrested him more than 50 times. "He was in preventive detention for eight months in Jodhpur," he said.
The TADA court, however, declined to entertain the plea and said, "Looking into the facts that even earlier this court had to adjourn the case for non-appearance of the accused, I consider that the date of recording statement be preponed (sic) to July 18."
The court had earlier fixed August 4 for hearing the case.
The JKLF chief's bail was cancelled on July 5 and the court issued non-bailable warrant against him after he had failed to appear before the designated TADA court despite repeated summons to attend the trial.
The court also forfeited his bailbond and issued notice to the person who stood surety for him.
Malik was arrested in Delhi on February 13, 1992, on charges that he had received money from Pakistan's ISI for promoting terrorist organisations in the Kashmir valley. Sleuths also recovered about Rs 450,000 from his possession.
Meanwhile, angry activists of the JKLF took to the streets in Srinagar to protest Malik's arrest forcing the police to use teargas shells.
The police also took JKLF vice-chairman Javid Ahmad Mir along with two of his associates, Fayaz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad, into preventive custody for leading the demonstrations.