The Jammu and Kashmir administration has booked over 2,300 people in more than 1,200 cases under the unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and 954 people under the Public safety Act (PSA) since 2019, reported The Indian Express.
Of those detained under PSA, 46% of these people are still in jail, both inside and outside J-K, it further reported.
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, prescribes up to seven years imprisonment for “advocating, abetting, advising or inciting the commission of any unlawful activity” while as PSA, a presumptive detention law allows detention without formal charges or a trial.
Originally the law was introduced to curb timber smuggling in 1978, over the time the law has been used by the state — on varied personalities from stone-throwers, politicians, activists, and anyone — to crack down on the anti-government voices.
As per the report, in 2019, 699 people were detained under PSA, and 160 people in 2020. In 2021, 95 people were detained under PSA till July-end. Of these, 284 continue to remain under detention, quoting the official police data The Indian Express reported.
In the first 30 days after the abrogation of the special status on 5 August 2019, at least 290 people were booked under PSA among which 250 people booked under this law were from Kashmir according to the government sources, as per the newspaper.
Meanwhile, over 5,500 people were taken into preventive custody under section 107 of the CrPC in 2019, The Indian Express quoted the official sources. It further said that the Home department sources said all of them have since been released.
As per the report, out of the total 2,364 people arrested under UAPA, 918 were held in 437 cases in 2019, 953 people in 557 cases in 2020, and 493 in 257 cases till July- end this year (249 cases in Kashmir, 26 in Jammu). Among these, 1,100 continue to remain in custody, it further reported.
