Within days after giving a warning to some media platforms against spreading fake news, the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday conducted raids at the residences of four journalists in Srinagar-the summer capital of the Union Territory. The residences that were raided include Shoukat Mota, Hilal Saqi, Shah Abbas, and Azhar Qadri.
A local news agency, the Kashmir Dot Com (KDC), quoting police sources, said that raids were conducted in connection with a case registered last year about a blog called "Kashmirfight". The police had claimed that the blog had uploaded and circulated some propaganda material to disrupt peace and provoke common people for creating law and order problems.
According to the news agency, the residence of Showkat Ahmad Matta son of Abdul Samad, a resident of Sheikh Hamza Colony Lal-Bazar was raided by SDPO Nehrupark along with a police team. Matta is the editor in Chief of Kashmir Narrator Magazine. However, as per reports, the magazine is not being published since 2019.
Reports said another team raided the house of journalist Azhar Qadri son of Farooq Qadri, a resident of Abubaker Colony Bemina. Qadri is said to be working for many news outlets.
'Kashmirfight' is an 'intimidation factory' of white-collar terrorists
In July this year, Kashmir Police had busted a white-collar terrorists' module - which was behind issuing threats to social activists, politicians, bureaucrats, government officers, and journalists, on the directions of their mentors, sitting in Pakistan.
According to police, the Kashmirfight was being run by a white-collar terrorist syndicate whose task was to prepare a strategic hit list of government officers, journalists, social activists, lawyers, political functionaries who were assessed by the syndicate to be responsible for harming the overarching objectives of furthering and sustaining the Pakistani supported terrorist programme with the eventual aim of secession of Jammu and Kashmir from the Indian Union and its eventual annexation with Pakistan.
Media persons warned against spreading fake news
On Friday, Police had appealed to the general public not to pay any heed to the rumours being maliciously spread by the anti-national elements especially across the border to disturb the prevalent peaceful atmosphere in the Valley.
"Several social media platforms, which are running from Pakistan, have been trying to spread fake news and videos to instigate miscreants to disturb the situation. Even a few local media persons and channels have been found spreading fake news. We are observing it, maintaining evidence and appropriate actions shall be taken against them. Such elements are advised not to spread fake news without consulting law enforcement agencies", police stated on Friday.
