Altaf Shah, a Kashmiri separatist leader and son-in-law of veteran anti-India politician Syed Geelani, died of cancer on Tuesday morning.
Mr Shah, 66, had been jailed at the capital's high-security Tihar Jail, where he was awaiting trial, until he was shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences for treatment in the days before his death.
His daughter Ruwa Shah, a journalist, said that Mr Shah had breathed his last as a “prisoner”.
Mr Shah was arrested in 2017 by the National Investigating Agency, the federal anti-terrorism agency, on charges of allegedly funding terrorist groups.
He was detained along with scores of other separatist leaders after New Delhi clamped down on anti-India politicians in the disputed Kashmir region.
Mr Shah was a member of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, a separatist political party founded by Mr Geelani in 2004.
Mr Geelani died last year at the age of 91 after about 10 years of house arrest. Authorities imposed a curfew in the valley and only a handful of locals were allowed to attend his midnight funeral.
Mr Shah was recently diagnosed with renal cancer and moved from prison to the state-run Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the capital, where he remained on a ventilator.
His daughter spent the past six months appealing to authorities to grant him bail on health grounds.
She also wrote open letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah last month to request that her father receive proper medical treatment at the premier hospital as she claimed RML did not have an oncology department.
Ms Shah also alleged that the jail authorities had told the court that he only had “diabetes and hypertension”.
“My incarcerated father has been diagnosed with acute renal cancer, which has ... spread to his other body parts, including his bones. It is my whole family’s request to please allow us to see him and consider his bail application on health grounds,” Ms Shah tweeted last month.
The Delhi High Court on October 1 ordered that Mr Shah be shifted to AIIMS and permitted his son and daughter to be with their father for an hour daily.
There was no information on whether his body would be handed over to the family for burial.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
