A fifteen-year-old boy is among the eight people booked under an anti-terror law for sloganeering at the funeral of a road accident victim in north Kashmir\u2019s Kupwara district.<\/p>\n
Zahoor Dar, the 15-year-old resident of Bumhama village of Kupwara district, was arrested on 29 May under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) which empowers the police to detain an individual for at least 180 days before filing a chargesheet in the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe went there [police station] and is yet to return home,\u201d Khazir Dar, father of Zahoor, told\u00a0The Kashmir Walla.<\/em><\/p>\n Khazir, a labourer, was at work when his son was arrested and was later informed by a relative. Since then, Khazir has been going to Kupwara police station in the hope of returning home with his son. \u201cHe is innocent,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think he has done anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, Mohammad Amin Dar of Bumhama had died in a road accident near his village. At his funeral, Nazir Ahmad Sarpanch Bumhama \u2014 who is also a relative of Zahoor \u2014 said someone had shouted the \u201cpro-freedom slogans\u201d. \u201cIt\u2019s clear in the video who raised the slogans,\u201d he said. \u201cBut some of them [arrested men] are innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n The sarpanch, the village headman, said he was told by the police to ask the eight men to present themselves at the police station for \u201csigning an apology\u201d. \u201cOnly four of them went there that day,\u201d said Ahmad. \u201cBut then all of them were booked under UAPA.\u201d<\/p>\n A senior police official confirmed Zahoor\u2019s arrest and said that he has been sent to the Juvenile Home Harwan. \u201cWe did everything as per the law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mir Urfi, a Srinagar-based lawyer, said that \u201cin any of the situations, a minor is to be released from custody as soon as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n She added: \u201cThere is no age bar for arresting under UAPA, however, a minor gets a bail protection under the juvenile act.\u201d<\/p>\n The First Investigation Report (FIR) includes<\/a>, as per a local news agency\u00a0Global News Service (GNS)<\/em>: Aabid Hussain Mir, Qaiser Ahmad Mir, Bilal Ahmad Mir, Zahoor Ahmad Dar, Aijaz Ahmad Ganai, Abass Ahmad Mir, Firdous Ahmad Bhat and Fayaz Ahmad Dar.<\/p>\n The GNS report said the case has been registered under Section 13 of the UAPA, 1967, which prescribes up to seven years imprisonment for \u201cadvocating, abetting, advising or inciting the commission of any unlawful activity\u201d.<\/p>\n It is not the first time that individuals have been booked for sloganeering under UAPA, a stringent anti-terror law. Last month,\u00a0Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman Ashraf Sehrai\u2019s two sons<\/a>, Rashid and Mujahid, were also arrested under UAPA for sloganeering at their father\u2019s funeral. Days after, both of them tested positive for COVID-19.<\/p>\n In March, New Delhi said 876 cases were registered and 505 persons were arrested under the UAPA\u00a0in J-K between 2015 to 2019<\/a>. Those who were booked include journalists, activists and minors.<\/p>\n