A Jammu-based scribe Arfaz Daing was released on bail on Monday, a day after he was arrested from the winter capital of Jammu Kashmir in a case dating back to March 2022.
The case is related to a demolition drive conducted by the Revenue Department of Jammu Kashmir administration near Wave Mall in Jammu when Mohammed Yusuf Wani’s residential house was demolished by the authorities.
Yusuf staged a protest alone, which was shot by several scribes including Arfaz Daing, and later the video went viral on social media networking. Yusuf was seen making serious allegations against the admin.
Arfaz, who runs a Facebook page News Sehar India, as per his counsel was arrested on Sunday and brought to the court for Police remand on Monday but more than 35 advocates represented Arfaz voluntarily and argued that Arfaz was being targetted for giving voice to the voiceless people of Jammu and representing the plight of marginalized communities in the Jammu region.
The counsel argued that Arfaz was arrested in the FIR without being served any prior notice, which was completely illegal
Advocate Anwar representing Arfaz said that the court has made a historical decision and released him in open court. “We welcome the decision of the Court to release Arfaz as he is not a criminal, he is a professional journalist being targetted for representing the voice communities in Jammu,” he said.
Another Jammu based journalist told The Kashmiriyat that Arfaz was booked under section 295 A of the Indian Penal code (Outraging religious feelings).