Kashmiri journalist who was arrested from his home in Srinagar has been remanded to NIA custody till April 11 by a court in New Delhi.
On Wednesday, Irfan Mehraj was produced before a special NIA judge of Patiala House Court where the National Investigation Agency had sought twelve days of remand to question Mehraj.
Irfan was working as an editor with Twocircles.net was arrested by the sleuths of the National Investigation Agency in Srinagar on Monday evening. His family said that he was brought to New Delhi on Tuesday evening and was produced before the court on Wednesday afternoon.
The agency alleged that he was a close associate of a human rights activist, Khurram Parvez and was arrested in connection with its ongoing investigation into an “NGO terror funding case”.
“Mehraj was a close associate of (human rights activist) Khurram Parvez and was working with his organisation, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS),” PTI the official said.
On Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called for the immediate release of Mehraj saying that he has been arrested on “spurious terrorism” charges and is facing the possibility of life imprisonment.
Former Jammu Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti while censuring the “National Investigation Agency” for arresting Mehraj said that “draconian laws” like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA are being “abused constantly” to ensure that the process itself becomes the punishment.
She tweeted: “While conmen are given a free run in Kashmir, journalists like Irfan Mehraj are arrested for doing their duty by speaking the truth. Draconian laws like UAPA are abused constantly to ensure that the process itself becomes the punishment. (SIC),”
Among others, UN Special Rapporteur on HRD Mary Lawlor, Amnesty Internation, Editors Guild of India and the Press Club of India have demanded immediate release of Mehraj.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Amnesty said that the arrest of Mehraj under terror charges is a travesty.
“The arrest is yet another instance of the long-drawn repression of human rights and the crackdown on media freedoms and civil society in the region of Jammu and Kashmir. The stifling of the rights to freedom of expression and association continues unabated in Kashmir.”