Bijnor: Couple seeking donations for Kashmiri families booked for ‘breach of peace’

THE BIJNOR police on Monday booked a couple from Jammu and Kashmir for allegedly seeking donation for Kashmiri families in Muslim-dominated Kiratpur town, while claiming that the Army and the police were harassing people in the Valley. Ghulam Nabi (26) and his wife Kausar Bano (25) — residents of Baramulla in Kashmir — were booked under Section 151 (breach of peace) of the CrPC. They were handed over to the police by Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) workers, HYV’s western region president N P Singh said. The police, however, did not name the organisation.

On Monday, the two were produced before the magistrate court, which released them against sureties. Keeratpur police Station House Officer Mukesh Kumar said that on Sunday evening, they were informed that a few persons have caught a couple, who were allegedly misleading the people while collecting donation. A police team later brought the couple to the police station, he added. Senior Sub-inspector Love Sirohi said: “A group from a Hindu outfit had caught the couple and handed them over to the police. During questioning, Ghulam Nabi said they are part of a group known as ‘Jammu and Kashmir Students National Relief Camp’ and had come from Jammu and Kashmir in October, last year. He claimed that he, along with his wife, had come to Bijnor on Saturday to collect donation for Kashmiri Muslims.”

“The couple said they showed photographs of the families living in a poor state in Kashmir and sought donations to help them. We have recovered pamphlets displaying the name of ‘Jammu and Kashmir Students National Relief Camp’ that they were distributing,” he added. “They were showing photographs to the people, accusing the security personnel of torturing the families in Kashmir. However, when questioned, they denied the allegations,” Sirohi said. The couple has said that members of their group were staying in Bulandshahr district, said police.

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“They was booked under Section 151 of the CrPC, as they were involved in an altercation with some locals, who inquired about their whereabouts,” said SHO Mukesh Kumar. Bijnore Additional Superintendent of Police Dinesh Singh said: “Central intelligence agencies were informed about the couple… The agencies verified their background and found nothing suspicious.”

When contacted, HYV’s western region president, N P Singh, said: “After coming to know that a couple from Jammu and Kashmir was abusing the Army and the police, HYV workers rushed to the spot and caught them. They were later handed over to the local police. No workers misbehaved with the couple.”