India’s top anti-terrorism investigation agency last Friday (26) again sought the death sentence for a leading Kashmiri independence figure and former rebel leader after he was given life in prison, official sources said.
Muhammad Yasin Malik, 57, chief of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), pleaded guilty last year to funding terrorism after refusing to accept a government-appointed lawyer or to defend himself against the charges.
The court turned down a plea by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for a death sentence, saying capital punishment was for a crime that “shocks the collective consciousness” of society.
Last Friday, the NIA petitioned the high court in New Delhi again seeking death sentence for Malik, a senior security official said.
JKLF spearheaded an armed insurgency in 1989 in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.
(Agencies)
