Who is Waheed Para, the arrested PDP leader with alleged Hizbul links?

Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti has allegedly been detained again. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said on November 27 that she has been locked inside her house for the past two days and her daughter Iltija Mufti has been placed under house arrest as well over her plans to visit party leader Waheed Para.

Why was Mehbooba Mufti detained over plans to meet Waheed Para?

Mehbooba Mufti has alleged that the Jammu and Kashmir administration is not letting her visit party leader Waheed Para’s family in Pulwama. Notably, Waheed Para, the PDP youth wing president and former cabinet minister, is currently in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Delhi.

Who is Waheed Para and why was he arrested?

The PDP leader, who had just filed his nomination from Pulwama for the upcoming District Development Council (DDC) elections, has been arrested over links with terror organisation Hizbul Mujahideen's Commander Naveed Babu. Para is reportedly close to Irfan Shafi Mir, who was arrested along with Naveed Babu and J&K Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh.

According to a Hindustan Times report, while probing Singh’s association with Hizbul terrorists, the NIA had found phone records of Mir that revealed his "close links" with the PDP leader.