Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah slapped with PSA, denied bail

Shah was first arrested by police on February 4, on charges of supporting militancy, spreading fake news and inciting the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Later on March 5, a few hours after he was granted bail in the Srinagar case, he was re-arrested in a separate case by a Shopian court. This is the third time he has been arrested in more than a month.

Srinagar(J&K): Followed by three arrests over the past two months, Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah was on Monday slapped with Public Safety Act (PSA), confirmed his counsel. He has been under police custody since his first arrest on February 4, followed by a re-arrest on March 5 immediately after a court had granted him bail - a classic revolving door policy move to keep him behind the bars for a longer time.

"Yesterday, we filed an application for bail in the third case against Fahad Shah in the National Investigation Agency (NIA)'s special court. We were hopeful of securing bail as our case is strong just like the previous two cases (Pulwama and Shopian). But we did not succeed," Shah's lawyer Umair Ronga told ETV Bharat over the phone. "The administration informed the court today that Shah has now been slapped with PSA. We do not have the dossier yet," he added

Shah's colleague at The Kashmir Walla, also told ETV Bharat that Shah was previously granted bail in two cases and was expecting to get the bail in the third case too. "But the PSA was unexpected. It is not yet clear why and on what basis they have imposed it. We will perhaps get some clarity over it after receiving the copy of the dossier by evening," he said while adding that Shah is currently undergoing medical examination and will soon be shifted to jail after that.

Shah was first arrested by police on February 4, on charges of supporting militancy, spreading fake news, and inciting the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Later on, on March 5, a few hours after he was granted bail in the Srinagar case, he was re-arrested in a separate case by a Shopian court. This is the third time he has been arrested in more than a month, while the police have also claimed that three separate First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered against Shah.

"Fahad Shah was inciting the general public to praise militancy, spread false news and disturb law and order. He was wanted in three cases - FIR No. 70/2020 PS Safa Kadal Srinagar, FIR No. 06/2021 PS Imam Sahib, Shopian and currently for the PS Pulwama case, arrested in FIR No. 19/2022," Inspector General of Police (Kashmir Range) Vijay Kumar had said in his statement given immediately after Shah's arrest.