Srinagar
In a bizarre incident, a Journalist, Kaiser Andrabi on Friday was illegally detained and thrashed black-and-blue inside Fateh Kadal police station for wearing an open shirt over his t-shirt. Andrabi had been to the police station to collect his I-card which was seized during the day time.
Andrabi is working with The Kashmir Walla as a features writer. He was stopped at a naka during the daytime when he was going to attend his fellow reporter, Saide Zahoor Shah, who got injured while covering the clashes. “Since it was sort of an emergency, I requested them to not take my bike, but keep the ID card. They let me go, and asked to visit the police station in the evening to collect the card.”
Around 6 in the evening, Andrabi went to the police station to fetch his I card. “As I entered the room I greeted the policeman there. He did not respond rather began asking me questions about my attire. He told me to button the shirt, but I refused.” Andrabi describes his identity as a two-star police officer whose nameplate read Mohammad Abbas.
This ‘no’ from Andrabi irritated the officer. He ordered his subordinate to button Andrabi’s shirt forcibly. “I again resisted. The officer stood up from his chair and slapped me hard.” The other policemen around him joined their officer and began slapping, kicking and hit him multiple times with wood-baton and gun-butts.
Andrabi, who was fasting, fell mildly unconscious, and also suffered injuries in his abdomen. Currently, he is in the hospital where doctors have prescribed him medicines and asked him to go through some medical tests.
When Kashmir life tried to reach the officer who assaulted the journalist, he answered arrogantly and termed Andrabi as a repeated offender. When we tried to know the reason Andrabi was assaulted, he dropped the line.
Meanwhile, the Kashmir Journalist Association (KJA) has strongly condemned the assault and urged the Director General of Police and Inspector General of Police, Kashmir to intervene in this matter by acting against the officials so that these acts are not repeated.
