A special NIA court on Saturday turned down the interim bail plea of former deputy superintendent of police Davinder Singh, granting him custody parole instead to attend the last rites of his father in Srinagar.
Event Context
Special judge Prem Sagar rejected the 20-day interim bail plea filed by Davinder Singh following the death of his father, Deedar Singh, on July 17. The court, however, allowed custody parole on humanitarian grounds to enable him to attend the Akhand Paath scheduled from July 27 to 30 at Imran Gali, Mehjoor Nagar.
The National Investigation Agency opposed the interim bail request, citing the gravity of the offences linked to national security and the risk of witness tampering, while noting that Davinder Singh’s regular bail plea is already pending before the Jammu and Kashmir high court. The agency said it had no objection to custody parole under proper security.
Match Outlook
Under the court order, Davinder Singh will be taken from Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu to Srinagar by road or train under heavy police escort for five days, returning to Jammu by the evening of July 31. While in Srinagar, he will be lodged at the nearest police station and brought to his family home daily between 10am and 4pm for the rituals under continuous armed supervision.
Davinder Singh was arrested on January 11, 2020, near Qazigund on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway while transporting Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists Syed Naveed Mushtaq alias Naveed Babu and Rafi Ahmad Rather, along with advocate Irfan Shafi Mir, in his personal vehicle. Police recovered an AK-47 rifle, three pistols, five hand grenades, and ammunition from the vehicle.
The NIA subsequently filed a chargesheet against six accused—including Davinder Singh, the two terrorists, Mir, former LoC trader Tanveer Ahmad Wani, and Naveed Babu’s brother Syed Irfan Ahmad—under various provisions of the IPC, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act, and Explosive Substances Act. The agency said the accused were part of a larger conspiracy backed by Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen leadership and Pakistani state agencies to execute terrorist acts and wage war against India.
