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Kashmir journalist detained in late night raid in Pulwama according to family
Malik’s father Mohammad Amin and mother Haseena told reporters about his alleged detention after they travelled to the Media Facilitation Centre set up by the government in Srinagar.
A 26-year-old journalist working for local daily was allegedly detained by security forces in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, his family said on Thursday.
Irfan Malik, who reports for the Greater Kashmir newspaper in Pulwama district, was allegedly picked up by security forces at around 11:30 pm on Wednesday from his home in Tral and taken to a local police station, the family said. It was unclear whether he had been released at the time of going to print.
Malik’s father Mohammad Amin and mother Haseena told reporters about his alleged detention after they travelled to the Media Facilitation Centre set up by the government in Srinagar.
“The military came to our home and asked for Irfan. They took him away. We followed them to Tral police station,” said Haseena.
The family also met superintendent of police, Awantipora, Tahir Saleem.
Haseena said that she was allowed to meet her son in the police station on Thursday morning. “He was not put in lockup but in the garden. They have not told him about the reason of his detention,” she said. “He is very frustrated about his detention”.
Saleem was not available for comment. However a senior police official confirmed the journalist’s detention. “He will be let go after 5-6 hours,” the officer said on condition of anonymity, but did not reveal the reason of Malik’s detention, or whether he had been let go at the time of filing this report.
Government spokesman and principal secretary planning Rohit Kansal said that he was collecting details about the incident.
Hundreds of people including former legislators, ministers and senior leaders of different political parties and separatists groups are under detention since August 5 when Jammu and Kashmir was stripped of special status by the central government and split into two Union Territories.
