Monitor News Bureau
Srinagar, Sep 9: Kashmiri journalist, Aasif Sultan, who was arrested last month by the J&K Police, has been sent to Central Jail Srinagar in judicial custody until September 22.
Reports said that a court in Srinagar while hearing his bail plea sent him to judicial custody until September 22.
Aasif, an assistant editor with the monthly newsmagazine, Kashmir Narrator, was arrested from his home in Batamaloo.
He was detained by local police for six days and was later presented in the court.
Police said that Asif was arrested in an FIR registered at the Batamaloo station.
“During the initial questioning of the accused, subsequent searches were carried out based on the disclosures made in this case so far, which has led to the seizure of incriminating materials from various locations. It also establishes his complicity for harbouring known militants. Further investigation in the case is still underway,” a police spokesman had then said.
Kashmir Working Journalist Association (KWJA) and Kashmir Journalist Association (KJA), however, expressed shock and outrage over the “illegal detention” of Asif.
“We have been informed that Sultan is being questioned for his report on Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, who was killed in an encounter last year, published in a recent issue of Kashmir Narrator, along with other stories and has been asked to report his sources to police. Apart from the mistreatment meted out to him in police custody, he is also being asked questions about his political ideology,” said the journalists’ bodies in a statement.
