J&K Police files FIR after ‘hit list’ appears on social media

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday filed an FIR against the URL handler in connection with a “hit list” of 39 people, believed to have been released by a militant outfit on Thursday.

The ‘hit list’ mostly comprises Valley-based journalists, some political workers and activists, whom the militant group have alleged are on the payrolls of Indian agencies. The 39 people on the list have also been categorised as A+, A, B and C. This categorisation is similar to how the J&K police slots militants based on the level of their involvement in militants activities.

“Police Station, Kothibagh had come to know reliably that some propagandist material was being uploaded and circulated through a website URL: https//Kashmirfight.Wordpress.com. These posts uploaded on the said URL are prejudicial to the integrity, the sovereignty of country and maintenance of peace and tranquillity as the handler of the above-said URL is propagating secessionist and terror-related ideology with the intention to achieve the goal of separating UT of J&K from Union of India,” a police spokesperson said in a statement.

He said not only this, the list of political/media persons and public figures and also posts of Lashkar-I-Islam are uploaded with the intention to create fear psychosis among individuals.

“Police have taken cognizance into the matter and case FIR No. 82/2020 U/S 13 of UA(P) Act r/w 506 IPC has been registered and investigation has been set into motion,” he said.

Earlier on Friday, Kashmir journalists including editors and reporters regretted the continued vilification of individuals representing the institution of media.

“It has become a routine for diverse elements across all the political and ideological thoughts to pass judgment on the Kashmir media and eventually, make it the punching bag to suit their ends,” a joint statement by most of the journalists' bodies said.

A senior police officer told DH that such ‘hit lists’ were uploaded in the past as well with the help of cyber over-ground-workers (OGWs). “They are circulated widely on social media to instil a sense of fear among the civilians and also pass a direction to other militants operating elsewhere and their associates to target these persons,” he said.