Amid peace overtures by a section of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), the J&K police have re-arrested a key figure of the banned socio-religious group, advocate Zahid Ali, on May 16, according to family members.
Mr. Ali’s family said that the Rainawari police station in Srinagar had “asked him to present himself” on May 16. “He was later arrested in a 2019 case related to the Central Jail, Srinagar,” the family said. He had been released on May 2 by the J&K High Court.
Mr. Ali has served as a JeI spokesman in the past. The Ministry of Home Affairs banned the JeI in 2019. Mr. Ali’s re-arrest comes in the wake of an ex-senior JeI leader Ghulam Qadir Wani from Pulwama “offering to participate in the elections if the Centre lifts the ban”. Mr. Qadir was also seen voting in the Srinagar Lok Sabha election recently.
