Srinagar- Farooq Khan, a Kashmiri engineer, who was acquitted of militancy charges after 18 long years of imprisonment, died after suffering a cardiac arrest in Sopore town of Baramulla district early this week.
Khan, a mechanical engineer, died of a cardiac arrest at his rented accommodation in Sopore town on Sunday afternoon, his brother Ashiq told Kashmir Observer.
He was later laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard in Anantnag town of south Kashmir on Monday after legal-medico formalities were carried out by police. Khan’s funeral was carried out under constant watch of police, family sources said.
“Farooq was running his business of solar panels in north Kashmir for a few years. He was doing well and was gradually expanding his business in remote villages of Baramulla,” Ashiq said.
Pertinently, Farooq was arrested on May 23, 1996 by the Special Task Force of police on charges of triggering bomb blasts in New Delhi and Jaipur. After his arrest, Farooq was lodged in different jails within and outside the state.
The Delhi court acquitted him off all the charges after 14-year long trial, while the Additional District Court, Bandhikui, Jaipur also cleared his name after a lengthy trial. However, four other Kashmiri prisoners-Abdul Gani Goni, Mohammad Ali Bhat, Mirza Nisar and Lateef Ahmad Waza, were awarded lifer by the court for their alleged role in militancy.
After his return, Farooq, a resident of Anantnag joined Shabir Shah led Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party. However, after the mass arrests following abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status, Farooq was convinced by his family to shift his base to north Kashmir and start a business.
Farooq Khan, whose family has a long association with separatist politics, had completed his aeronautical engineering from Chennai and higher studies from London before joining the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department of the state government in 1991. He served the government as a junior engineer for five years, before he was arrested by police on charges of militant activities.
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