Ganderbal Family Accuses Police Officer of Illegal Detention of 13 Members

Ganderbal, April 1, KNT: A family from central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district on Friday accused a police officer of abusing his authority by allegedly detaining 13 members of their family, including eight women, for several days in connection with a land dispute case.

The family of Muhammad Jamal Sofi from Watalbagh area of Ganderbal said the detentions followed a dispute over a piece of land between two brothers and claimed that police had acted beyond their authority.

Family members alleged that police from Lar police station initially arrested six persons linked to the dispute but later detained 13 more members of the family.

They said the additional detentions were made when the family members were travelling in a truck towards Beehama Chowk to protest what they described as the “highhandedness” of the station house officer of Lar police station.

According to the family, their vehicle was stopped near the Khirbhawani area and all 13 persons travelling in the truck, including the driver, were taken into custody.

Eight women were lodged at Saddar police station Ganderbal while five men were detained at police station Khirbhawani, the family said, adding that the truck used by them was also seized by the police.

The family further alleged that police had booked 24 people, including eight women, in connection with the incident under FIR numbers 18 and 19 of 2014 under sections 138B, 147, 148 and 149 of the Ranbir Penal Code.

“We fail to understand when we protested, when we pelted stones and when we disturbed peace,” the family members said, adding that they had been seeking a copy of the police report for several days.

They claimed that despite court directions, the station house officer of Lar police station had not provided them with a copy of the report.

The detained persons were identified by the family as Taja Bano, Haseena Ali, Shafiqa Khaliq, Shareefa Rashid, Salima Zahoor, Haseena Bashir, Fatima Banoo, Reyaz Ahmed, Ali Muhammad Bhat, Abdul Hamid, Ishfaq Ahmed Bhat, Abdul Rehman and Farooq Ahmed Sofi.

Attempts to contact the station house officer of Lar police station for comments did not receive any response.

However, a senior police official rejected the allegations made by the family and said the police had acted according to legal procedures.

The official said the accused persons were involved in stone pelting and had allegedly assaulted a First Class Magistrate during the incident.

“There is a land dispute between two brothers and one among them is the complainant who has alleged that his brother wants to grab his land. Police acted in accordance with the court directions,” the official said.

The official added that the police had provided the required report in time and described the accusations made by the family as baseless. [KNT]