The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday booked five people belonging to Rajouri and Poonch districts for allegedly writing sensitive posts on Facebook, The Indian Express reported. The accused reportedly work abroad.
Police said a case was filed under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66B of the Information Technology Act.
Senior Superintendent of Police Yougal Manhas said the posts caught their attention during routine surveillance on social media platforms. Manhas said the remarks were sensitive and “could emerge as grave threat to peace and order in the state”, PTI reported.
The accused have been identified as Zaheer Chowdhary Kala and Imran Qazir from Rajouri, and Zakir Shah Bukhari, Naziq Hussain, and Sardar Tariq Khan from Poonch district.
Police said legal proceedings against the five men have started and that they will approach the External Affairs Ministry to get their passports cancelled to ensure their deportation to India.
“Anyone who attempts to disturb peace will be dealt [with] strictly,” the police said on Twitter. “Taking note of their mischievous acts...”
Restrictions were imposed and communications were snapped in Jammu and Kashmir on August 4, a day before the central government revoked the state’s special status.
On Wednesday, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik had claimed that phone and internet services were mostly used by terrorists and Pakistanis for mobilisation and indoctrination, and less by the people of the state. “It is a kind of weapon used against us so we have stopped it. Services will be resumed gradually,” he had said.
Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday restored mobile phone services in five districts of Jammu after over three weeks of suspension. The services were resumed in Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Rajouri and Poonch districts.
Also read: Raids at night, handbills by day: Army siege in South Kashmir escalates after special status revoked
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