Kashmiri Pandit Rakesh Handoo circulates ‘edited terror threat’ online, faces charges under IT Act

The J&K police arrested a Kashmiri Pandit activist, Rakesh Handoo, 59, and slapped charges under the Information Technology (IT) Act over allegations of “circulating an edited terror threat” against Kashmiri Pandits working in the Kashmir valley.

Police officials said Mr. Handoo, currently a resident of Faridabad, Haryana, was arrested by a team from Baramulla on October 17 after “the investigation established prima facie an offence under cyber terrorism”.

Officials said Mr. Handoo was zeroed in after a Kashmiri Pandit employee, whose name figured in the “terror threat list”, registered a complaint with the police.

The police cited, like the offence, that Mr. Handoo was behind “the deliberate alteration and commission of the electronic material”. “On his publicly accessible Twitter account, he repeatedly circulated threat-related electronic material purporting to originate from Soldier of Resistance/United Liberation Council, which in its original form belonged to another person bearing a similar name,” said the First Information Report (FIR).

Officials said the accused “falsely projected [the complainant] as the intended target by altering the original identifying details, and its circulation created serious apprehension regarding the complainant’s safety.

Officials said offences under Sections 66F and 84C IT Act established a prima facie case against the accused. The Forensic Science Lab and technical analysis have been sought in the case. Eight social-media posts and relevant documentary evidence were also seized, they added.

Mr. Handoo contested the 2008 assembly election against National Conference president Farooq Abdullah from Srinagar’s Hazratbal constituency.

On behalf of the employees, Mr. Handoo in August this year approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and National Commission for Minorities (NCM) and demanded “a probe as to how personal data of Prime Minister Package Employees in Kashmir was leaked” and said, “a credible threat cannot be taken lightly”.

The purported terror threat letter circulated ahead of Independence Day in August forced the government to make extra security arrangements for the Pandit employees. Scores of locals were also questioned after the threat letter.