Kashmiri mother seeks CM's help for son's release

Srinagar, Jan 15 : The mother of a Kashmiri businessman arrested in Delhi on terrorism charges on Monday urged Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to help get her son released, claiming he was innocent.

The businessman's family members also staged a protest here.

Businessman Bilal Ahmad Kawa was arrested from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on January 12 by Delhi Police and the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad for alleged involvement in a 2000 attack on the Red Fort.

Delhi Police said the 37-year-old's bank account had been used for terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere by the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Kawa's mother Fatima told reporters during the protest that her son was a genuine businessman holding an Indian passport issued in 2001.

She insisted that if her son was a militant, she would never seek his release. She asked Mehbooba Mufti to intervene and ensure that her son was not framed.

According to her, Kawa had gone to Delhi for a medical check up. The Jammu and Kashmir Police has said there was no case against him, nor does he figure in any list of terror suspects.