J&K Police Refutes Iltija Mufti's Claims on Passport Issuance

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir police has denied claims that its intelligence wing has pressured litigants to "withdraw from the process of redressing their grievances through courts of law".

In a statement issued by the police after Iltija Mufti slammed the police authorities for thwarting her international travel,  the J&K police refuted the allegations as outright "false assertions."

A police spokesperson said that following the accusations made by Iltija Mufti – the daughter of People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti – that the Criminal Investigation Department of J&K Police has pressured a litigant to refrain from litigating in the High Court in connection with her passport related grievances, a quick internal audit was carried out.

"J&K Police can affirm that the claim of such pressure is completely false. Nevertheless, officers are being detailed to approach the aggrieved person and ascertain details – who was pressured, when, where and under what circumstances so that the quick internal inquiry, if found inadequate, can be expanded to take suitable disciplinary action against the delinquent," the statement read.

Without naming her, the police statement added that Iltija Mufti has "apparently projected her personal grievance" on the general public, which it termed was "problematic".

The police also issued the department's passport verification data in the last three years and claimed that more than 99% of the verification was cleared. In 2020, out of 77,686 passport verification received, 77,644 were cleared. In 2021, out of 75,714 passport verification received, 75,176 were cleared, and in the last year, out of 1,34,315 passport verification received, 1,28,939 have been cleared, according to the data issued by the police.

The J&K Police added that it has found that as many as 54 boys were wrongly given passport service during 2017-18, following which all went to Pakistan. They were shifted to arms training camps, with many pushed back into the Union territory through LoC.

"26 of them died while either crossing or during encounters in the hinterland. Lives of 12 of these young boys could be saved by the CID after their return from Pakistan by bringing them under preventive custody so that terrorist-separatist syndicates do not succeed in pressuring them to join terror ranks (sic)," the statement read.  

As many as 16 of them are still "across and trapped" in camps under the control of hostile agencies, according to the police. 

The police added that the intelligence and investigation have confirmed that in each case, the visa to Pakistan was allegedly arranged at the behest of leaders from the constituents of Hurriyat Conference.