With the arrest of a social media ‘hero’ in a sex and blackmail case, the focus has shifted to abuse of public space by ambitious individuals who use weaknesses in society and systems to make it big, reports Tahir Bhat
More than 18 hours after, when Jammu and Kashmir Police broke the news that they have arrested Nadeem Ahmad Ganai in a case of sleaze and extortion (sextortion), newsrooms in Srinagar were in utter disbelief. He had been arrested by a special team of the Jammu and Kashmir Police on the night of October 1, 2022, from his New Qazibagh residence in Anantnag.
“Had he known that police are coming for him, he would have at least got it delayed,” one scribe knowing the social media clown, said. Operating as Nadeem Nadu, he, at one point in time, was the “most sought-after journalist” in a political class and had succeeded in making it big despite knowing nothing. “His arrest actually indicates that the law enforcing agency has a water-tight case and might have done a lot of spade work before picking the man.”
The Case
The police acted on a formal complaint made by a young female, now 27, from down south Kashmir, now reportedly serving some institution outside Kashmir. The complaint, the copy of which was leaked online, gives graphic detail of the case. In an effort to get out of the claws of the rapist-extortionist, the lady, who was 25 when she landed in Nadu trap, claimed she made five unsuccessful bids to end her life and also gave him the gold her family had purchased for her marriage. She had moved the complaint to the Women’s Police Station, Srinagar, on September 30.
The crime, according to the complaint started with an apparently innocuous announcement by Nadu- probably on his countless Whatsapp groups, in July 2020, at the peak of Covid19 lockdown. It asked people to get in touch with him if they need any help, which included in helping them reach home. She probably required a passage in moving from Central University of Kashmir’s Ganderbal campus to her home. The contact was established and the girl sent every detail including a photograph.
On July 12, 2020, at 6 pm, Nadeem – accompanied by the ‘brown-bearded” man, the complaint said picks the girl from Ganderbal. After crossing the foreshore road, the car changes course and when she objects, she is told, they are picking another girl.
“..the brown beard boy said that Ma’am the girl is changing her clothes, so you can come for 10 minutes and charge your phone. I went to the lobby of the house and start charging my phone. Then a watchman came with a tray and Nadeem pick that tray from door. I saw coffee and pakodas. They insist me and when I eat those pakodas I feel dizziness,” the purported complaint reads. “After some time, when I open my eyes I was lying on the bed with a pain in my body and I start moving my arm so that I can find my watch and it was 8.00 p.m. I got shocked that I was unconscious from last 70 minutes. I saw my clothes near bed and I was naked that time I realize that I have been brutally raped.”
The tragedy marked the beginning of a painful process of extortion and sleaze. She was regaining consciousness when Nadu allegedly told her: “Aana tumhari marzi se tha, ab aage mai decide karunga”. She was told she has been filmed and she will have to obey him. In case of suicide, the threat was terse. “If you even try to commit suicide, then I will bang your family and nobody can save them”, she was told, because, “Mujhe yeh dhamki matt dou. Peon se le ke PM tak sab meri jeb mai hain. Ulta faso gi. Saray officers suggestion le te hain (mujh se).”
Frustrated, she did everything she was told in order to save her face and protect her family. For deleting her records, she was asked to cough up Rs 5 lakh.
The complaint mentions July 15, when the brown-bearded man picked her up from Khanabal and took her to the same place where a 40-45-year-old officer was there. In August she claimed she was exploited. On September 28, when she was in Jammu she was told to spend two nights with two officers or pay Rs 2 lakh. “I chose 2nd option. I went to Kashmir the next day and I gave him my gold which was the whole saving of my family for me including 5 coins, 1 bangle and 2 rings,” the complaint reads.
As Nadu announced his marriage, the complainant said she approached his wife who retorted back: “My husband is a diamond, every officer respects him and follows him.” The complaint makes a departing reference when they finally meet on December 13, at Hazratbal. It was there, as per the complaint, she told him: “You have done every bad thing with me. I have been raped by you and your so-called officers. Now I am nothing. I have lost, my everything, especially my future. I tried to commit suicide more than five times. You are responsible for everything.” Finally, she moved a formal complaint.
The Man
Nadu was one of the many virtual rulers in Kashmir’s cyberspace for many years. You guess and he knew it, despite being nobody. Now the complaint has brought the man into sharp focus. His meteoric rise in power corridors is no more being talked about in hushed tones, now.
People who know Nadu admit they themselves are surprised by the roller coaster ride of the man. “I am told he was driving a school van, a job he either lost or was sacked from, that he would drive an LPG supplying outlet’s vehicle,” a journalist, who is still scared of the influential man, said in absolute anonymity. “It was at that point in time that Maqbool Veeray hired him to be his driver.”
Veeray, who died on December 26, 2019, was running a Facebook page, called Sach News. Operating from a government flat, he was least mobile and would give every by-line to Nadeem. It was he who gave Nadeem Ganai, the name of Nadeem Nadu. Those were the days of social media growth and people instantly received news and started recognising Nadu.
“A wise man, he started understanding the power of his name. Veeray only had the concern that he should not lose his flat and Nadu ensured that it does not happen,” the scribe said. “He started knowing officers in the district and found them receptive to his stardom.”
Then a major development took place and only Nadu could locate and seize that opportunity. In 2015, when the BJPDP government took over, he could see that the BJP ministers were like ‘Alice in wonderland’ and did not know how to behave especially to the media. “Nadu filled that gulf and instantly,” the scribe said. “One day, when one minister did not find him around in an official meeting in Anantnag, he waited till his personal assistant got him after repeated phone calls. Nadu would normally be part of every official meeting of a number of ministers.”
This innovative top-down approach had its own impact. Everybody fell in line. “He would get into transfers in health, police and in the district and nobody would talk,” the scribe said. “I know that we reporters have some kind of influence when we know people in power, but I still do not know why they were so good to him?” Usually, his day would start at 10 am in the civil secretariat and he would probably be the last one to leave. The government ensured his accommodation in Jammu and more recently in Srinagar. His marriage was a gala event and only the wedding album can offer details.
On the ground, his approach was simple. Not able to write (he is reportedly not a matriculate), he had created sector-wise Whatsapp groups – one each for health, police, district and whatever. He would pick the reports appearing in the Jammu and Kashmir media and post them on relevant groups. “In certain cases, he would offer his expertise if the particular sector or department wanted his service in damage control,” the scribe said, “In a way, he was operating like a counterweight to the formal media.”
Journalists would hate him for his guts and influence. However, when he started helping people in connecting with the powerful, a sort of co-existence emerged. Even journalists would follow his page for quick information.
The Probe
Police have registered a case (FIR No 50/22) under sections 376, 384,506 of IPC at the women’s police station in Srinagar. Understanding the gravity of the case, the police have constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Deputy SP Headquarters Owais Wani and comprising Deputy SP Ms Sleet Shah, SHO Women Police Station Inspector Khalida Parveen and ASI Mohammad Yousuf Shah as members.
Information in the public domain suggests that the SIT wants to arrest “everybody, however influential”. They have already arrested the brown-bearded man, identified as Salman Shah. Interestingly he is said to be another self-proclaimed journalist who was editing an online portal. Information gathered suggests that professionally he was slightly better than Nadu but lacked any formal experience.
The police, sources said is investigating the two in custody and are trying to locate the people to whom the young girl was given for abuse. It is not immediately known if there are any more inputs from the complainant. Since the matter is still at the initial stage of the investigation, nothing much is known. However, indications suggest a thorough probe will eventually lead to a deeper sleaze racket almost akin to that of 2008.
The last and most recent arrest in the case is that of a PHE employee Showkat Ahmad Ragoo, a resident of Anantnag.
