In Jammu and Kashmir, 255 cases filed under UAPA in 2019

Jammu and Kashmir police registered 255 cases under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2019 in the Union Territory (UT).

According to a report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released last week, J&K has the third highest number of cases registered under UAPA after Manipur (306) and Tamil Nadu (270). 20% of 1,226 cases lodged across the county under the anti-terror law were registered only in J&K.

IN 2014 only 45 cases under UAPA were registered in J&K which jumped to 245 cases in 2018. The report reveals that not a single case was registered under UAPA in 11 states and six UTs in the country.

Last month, 10 young cricketers were booked by the J&K under the UAPA for organising and playing a match in the memory of a slain militant in south Kashmir’s Shopian district. Last week J&K police on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against seven persons, including four Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants and their three associates under the UAPA.

Under the UAPA, the maximum stipulated time frame for filing a charge sheet is 90 days, which may be extended by the court to 180 days. It was enacted in 1967 to provide for the more effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of individuals and associations and for dealing with militancy-related activities and for matters connected therewith.

The law also empowers the Central government to ban organisations and designate individuals as terrorists.