Kashmir Observer

Sacked Woman Cop Suspected To Be OGW: Police

‘Booked For Raising Anti-India, Pro-Freedom Slogans’

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A day after police sacked and arrested a woman cop for allegedly glorifying militancy; police on Saturday dismissed "over-reach" and an" excessivel­y strict action" against the Special Police Official (SPO) saying she was a suspected over-ground worker of militants and was booked on charges of shouting anti-India and pro-freedom slogans.

Saima Akhter, a resident of Frisal area of south Kashmir district and working as SPO, was on Friday arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, a police spokespers­on said.

In a rebuttal issued on Saturday, a police spokespers­on said that it has been found that on various media platforms, a number of vested interests with malafide intentions have put in a lot of efforts into making the incident appear like an "over-reach" and an" excessivel­y strict action,”

“It is clarified that the accused woman uttered antiIndia and pro-freedom slogans off-camera thus

inviting penal action under ULA(P)Act,” he said.

He further said that the utterances made by the woman cop on-camera was live streamed for further disseminat­ion on diverse social media platforms with the intention to cause disruption of an ongoing operation and to incite disaffecti­on towards the state.

“This is punishable under the Indian Penal Code and ULA (P) Act. Also, the accused being a police employee, is bound by a code of conduct which was brazenly violated by her. Thus the concurrent department­al action has been taken against her,” he said.

Divulging more details of the case, the police spokespers­on claimed that the household of the accused was a suspected shelter point of an active Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant Aslam Dar and the woman cop has been on police radar as a suspected OGW.

“Thus was subjected to search. It remains to be investigat­ed whether her act was meant as a disruption tactic to aid escape of the said militant when the search operation was underway,” the police spokespers­on said.

He also requested that no heed should be paid towards those trying to paint the incident in any hue other than a criminal act.

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