Lawyer of journalist Sajad Gul, who was re-arrested hours after acquiring a bail on Saturday in another First Information Report (FIR) in Bandipora, on Sunday said he feared the police intended to prolong Mr. Gul’s detention by these back-to-back FIRs.
“The delay in the release of Sajad under the pretext of a fresh FIR is an attack on his constitutional liberty. In terms of law, the police could add offences during the course of investigation if attracted. However, registration of the second FIR defeats the mandate of law. The matter would be brought before a court of law and I am sure that justice would be done,” lawyer Umair Ronga told The Hindu.
Mr. Gul is now booked under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (armed with weapons) and 336 (endangering life). Earlier, the court granted him bail in the FIR lodged on January 6 in Bandipora.
“They [the police] have not mentioned this FIR in report sort by the court on January 10 when a bail application was filed,” the lawyer said. “One can understand that they wanted to defeat the mandate of law. They wanted to prolong his custody and that’s why a fresh FIR,” he said.
Mr. Gul, a trainee journalist pursuing his degree in Mass Communication, was arrested on January 6 after he uploaded a video of the protesting family of a slain militant.
“He was also involved in spreading disinformation campaign through fake tweets and narratives regarding the recent anti-militant operation in Gundjahangeer, in which one local militant Imtiyaz Ahmad was eliminated, thereby trying to provoke the locals against the Army and the police,” the police said.
He was booked under IPC Sections 120B,153B,505. “He uploads tweets not based on facts to provoke the people against the government and spread animosity, ill-will among the people and against the nation,” they said.
