Man booked under PSA in Doda, MLA alleges arrest for questioning waste management

DODA — A man has been booked under the Public Safety Act for his alleged militant links in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir. MLA Doda, however, said that the man has been arrested for questioning the district administration’s ‘failure’ to dump the waste properly.

Aam Aadmi Party legislator Mehraj Malik from Doda took to the micro-blogging site and said that a young man was simply questioning the administration’s failure to clean up the area, but instead of addressing the issue, they silenced him with an arrest.

While talking to the news agency KNT, MLA Doda said that it is very unfortunate that people questioning the administration are being booked and silenced.

The man in question, Rehmatullah Paddar in a video that is viral had condemned the Doda District Administration’s decision to establish a dumping site near a residential area, rather than selecting a more suitable location.

Paddar claimed that the ‘dumping project’ is a scam and crores of rupees are involved in it.

The netizens on social media have been criticizing the Doda district administration for silencing those who speak up against the wrongdoings. The majority of the netizens demanded his immediate release.

The Doda District Administration, however, termed all these allegations baseless and out of context.

Deputy Commissioner Doda, Harvinder Singh said that the viral video was shot on November 9, while it was on October 31 when the district administration received the 160-page PSA dossier of this man from police. “The dossier clearly mentions that the man in question is a grade ‘A’ ‘Over Ground Worker’ and despite being arrested in past, he has not mended his ways and there is a possibility that he may help foreign militants,” Mr Singh said, adding that on the same allegations, this man was arrested in 2016 and an FIR still stands registered against him.

District Magistrate Doda further said that his arrest may have been a precautionary measure. He clarified that there’s no direct link between the man’s video criticizing the district administration and his detention under the Public Safety Act. “However, it’s possible that he created the video after learning about the dossier, which can’t be ruled out,” DC Doda said.