Tripura police books 2 lawyers from fact-finding team under UAPA

Tripura Police have invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against two lawyers who alleged Muslims were targeted in the violence in the state last month and also named fringe outfits Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM), and Bajrang Dal as the perpetrators. The advocates were a part of a four-member fact-finding team that had visited the state on October 29-30 in order to document the tensions in the region following reports of anti-Muslim violence in the state.

In their report, the lawyers said the Tripura government and state police did not take timely action to stop the violence, which is "tantamount to sponsoring the violence".

The lawyers booked under the UAPA, among other charges, are Mukesh, who practises at the Delhi High Court, and Ansar Indori, a Supreme Court lawyer and member of the National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (NCHRO), an umbrella body of various human rights groups. They were accompanied on the mission by Supreme Court lawyers Ehtesham Hashmi and Amit Srivastav.

Their report titled 'Humanity under attack in Tripura; #Muslim lives matter', documenting the vandalisation of at least 12 mosques, nine shops and three houses belonging to Muslim families, was released on Tuesday at the Press Club of India in Delhi.

Meanwhile, Tripura police have booked as many as 101 social media account holders on terror charges, besides offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, reports India Tomorrow.

Earlier, the police had registered 12 cases and arrested five persons connected with anti-Muslim violence in the third week of October.

According to the report, the cases against social media account holders have been booked for spreading "rumours" and "fake" news about the anti-Muslim violence in Tripura. The terror charges levelled are under Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The Section pertains to committing or inciting others the commission of unlawful activity.

Of 101 social media account holders, 68 are Twitter account holders, 31 are Facebook and two are Youtube account holders, says the report.

Earlier on Wednesday, The Tripura Police had said that it registered five cases against 71 people for alleged provocative and fake posts on social media aiming at disturbing the peace and communal harmony in the state.

The state government had on October 29 alleged that a group with vested interest from outside had hatched a conspiracy against the administration to create unrest in Tripura and malign its image by uploading fake photographs of a burning mosque on social media.