Days after his release, Kashmiri journalist Aasif Sultan rearrested over old case
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The award-winning Kashmiri journalist Aasif Sultan has been rearrested in connection with an old case of unlawful activities, hours after being brought back to his home in Srinagar from Ambedkar Nagar jail in Uttar Pradesh, where he had been under preventive detention since 2022.
Sultan's initial detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) was quashed by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in December of last year, with the court criticizing the allegations against him as "unsustainable" and calling for an end to his "illegal" detention.
However, procedural delays reportedly prolonged his reunion with his family for over two months, highlighting bureaucratic hurdles faced by detainees despite court orders.
Upon his return to Srinagar, Sultan was summoned to the Rainawari police station and subsequently arrested in connection with an Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) case filed by the Nowhatta police station. This arrest comes as a surprise, given Sultan's clearance from the authorities, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Sultan, known for his work with the now-defunct monthly English magazine Kashmir Narrator, was accused by the Jammu and Kashmir police of harbouring terrorists at his residence in Srinagar. He was previously booked under the UAPA and Ranbir Penal Code in 2018 but was granted bail by a Srinagar court in April 2022 due to a lack of evidence linking him to any militant group.
However, authorities later invoked the PSA against Sultan, accusing him of various charges including "harnessing known militants," "criminal conspiracy," and "aiding and participating in militant activities." Despite the court granting him bail, Sultan was taken into preventive detention under the PSA and subsequently transferred to Uttar Pradesh.
The PSA dossier against Sultan alleged his involvement as an "over-ground worker" for militant organizations, including Hizbul Mujahideen and The Resistance Front, with authorities claiming he joined the Al-Qaida affiliate Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind while in jail.
The dossier also implicated Sultan as an over-ground worker for The Resistance Front, a group believed to be an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba terror outfit.