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This is an archive article published on June 11, 2011

J-K: BBC journalist booked under IT Act

BBC’s London-based Kashmiri broadcaster has been booked for “inciting violence and spreading disinformation”.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Friday booked BBC’s London-based Kashmiri broadcaster Nayeema Ahmad Mehjoor for “inciting violence and spreading disinformation”.

Mehjoor was booked after she accused the police of the recent murder of a man in her Facebook post.

“It does not matter what platform she represents,but she (Mehjoor) is spreading dissent and disinformation,” Kashmir inspector general of police,Shiv Murari Sahai said in a press conference in Srinagar on Friday.

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Mehjoor has been booked under Section 66 of the Information Technology Act. “She has been booked for inciting violence and spreading disinformation,” he said.

Sahai drew an analogy between Mehjoor’s posts and the politics of Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani. “Geelani incites violence even while he doesn’t hit the roads and pelt stones,” Sahai said.

In a recent post on her Facebook page,Mehjoor had directly accused police of being responsible for the killing of a man on Residency road. The man,Afzal Khan,was shot dead on June 6 by an unknown assailant when he was walking on the pavement.

Though initially suspected to be a militant killing,the police has now concluded that the crime was the result of a business feud. “The killing was not a militancy-related case. It was a criminal conspiracy,” IG Sahai said.

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Three persons,Farooq Ahmad Dar,Parvaiz Ahmad Tantray and Shabir Ahmad Parray have been arrested by the police so far. The weapon of offence,a pistol,has also been recovered at their instance. Search for others involved is on.

“Why did police kill this man in Lalchowk? Any reason?,” Mehjoor had posted on June 6. And in another post,she wrote: “Kya police aaram sey nahi bethne degi logon ko?” (Won’t the police allow people to live in peace?

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