‘Religious school teachers in Kashmir detained under PSA as students, alumni engaged in militant activities” : J&K police

Police in South Kashmir have arrested three teachers of a religious school under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) for allegedly “spreading hatred while teaching”, police said.
After the investigating agencies found out about the clandestine nature of the school’s operation, the three teachers were arrested. The three were booked under the PSA which allows authorities to detain a person for up to two years without a trial “after it came to the fore that some of the school’s students and alumni were involved in militant activities”.

The police action came a day after the PTI reported that the religious school was under the scanner of investigating agencies after 13 of its students were found to have joined militant groups.

Kashmir Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar told a press conference here the school is affiliated with the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) outfit.

“The school’s name is Siraj-Uloom Imam Sahib. It is not that this school has not been under observation. We have already booked three teachers of the school namely Abdul Ahad Bhat, Rouf Bhat and Mohammad Yusuf Wani under the PSA,” Kumar told the reporters.

The institution’s alumni include Sajjad Bhat, an accused in the February 2019 suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama that left 40 personnel dead.

The IGP said about half-a-dozen other teachers of the school were under surveillance.
“(Conduct of) five to six teachers of the school are under surveillance (under Section 107 CrPC). Basically, the affiliation of the school is with JeI. It is under surveillance, and right now we are taking action against individuals and if need arises, we will take action against the school,” the IGP said.

Section 107 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) deals with any likely breach of peace or public tranquility.

The religious school in south Kashmir’s Shopian district came under the scanner of investigating agencies after 13 of its students were found to have joined the militant groups.

The school mainly has students from Kulgam, Pulwama and Anantnag districts of south Kashmir, considered by intelligence agencies to be the “hotbeds of militancy and breeding grounds for local recruits in various militant groups,” officials said.

The Public Safety Act (PSA) enables authorities to detain any individual for two years without a trial.