People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday, 2 August, claimed that Former Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh was “let off the hook” despite being caught with militants, while “Kashmiris are considered guilty until proven innocent”.
Mufti’s remarks on Twitter came following a photo of his dismissal order from May last year going viral on social media.
She wrote, “Innocent Kashmiris arrested under anti-terror laws rot in jails for years. For them the trial becomes punishment. But GOI [Government of India] does not want an enquiry against a cop caught red-handed with militants. Is it because he colluded with the system to orchestrate certain dodgy incidents?”
Singh was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in January 2020 after he was found to have assisted terrorists of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen to travel to Jammu from Kashmir.
The car in which Singh and a few others were travelling was apprehended as they were ferrying two wanted Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists en route to Delhi.
In July 2020, the National Investigation Agency named him, and five others in a charge sheet for criminal conspiracy and attempt to wage war under the Indian Penal Code, and under the terror offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, as well as provisions relating to illegal guns, ammunition and explosives under the Arms Act and Explosive Substances Act.
Following this, Singh was dismissed from service.
However, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had cited provisions of Article 311 of the Constitution in his dismissal order and said that it was “not expedient to hold an enquiry” against Singh “in the interest of the security of the State”.
Congress Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala reiterated Mufti's questions for the Union government, and asked for the details of the case against the former cop.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party Spokesperson in Jammu and Kashmir Altaf Thakur dismissed Mufti’s claims, and said that Singh is already being investigated by the NIA so everything about the case will come out, Hindustan Times reported.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)
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