NEW DELHI, Nov 12: Kashmiri freedom fighter Yasin Malik said on Tuesday that he was tortured during his seven-month captivity and described the recent Indian-backed polls in the region as spurious.

Malik, speaking at a news conference in Srinagar a day after he was released on parole after nearly seven months in prison, said several inmates he met during his captivity told him that they all were offered freedom if only they would contest the elections which they did not do.

“All these leaders — whether from Hurriyat or outside it — whom I met in jail said they were offered a choice between a two-year detention under the Public Safety Act and contesting the election”, he said.

“The prosecution is delaying the case as much as possible against me. Sometimes, the Additional Director General of Police is in Nepal to investigate the case and sometimes it is the Intelligence Bureau Director”, said Malik who has a heart condition.

Malik, head of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, said he was falsely implicated by the Farooq Abdullah administration in a hawala case in which a Pakistan-based contact was alleged to have sent him money via Nepal.

“The case dragged on. Finally, I told the judge that I will bring Altaf Qadri here (to India) and if the prosecution can establish that he had even once visited Nepal in the last eight years, I will plead guilty to all charges”, Malik said.

According to the case, Qadri, a Pakistani national, had allegedly delivered money to a couple in Nepal, which was meant to be delivered to Malik for passing on to Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-i-Taiba.

These charges were baseless and the prosecution then modified its case alleging it was based on the witness of two JKLF activists (Pervaiz Ahmad and Abdul Ahad Sheikh) who were also present at the press conference on March 25 when ‘I was arrested’, Malik said.

Malik also challenged Kashmir’s India-backed Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to contest against him from any constituency in the valley.

“Let him (Sayeed) choose a constituency anywhere in the Kashmir valley and contest against me. Let us see who represents the aspirations of Kashmiri people”, said Malik.

He said with four or five per cent votes, Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party should not boast to be a representative of the Kashmiri people.

He suggested that a common friend could become the arbiter in an electoral contest.—J.N.