Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Tuesday the police would act tough on the “handful of morons” abusing and harassing girl members of the Valley’s musical bands, even as the first criminal case was registered under the Information Technology Act and six of the suspects were identified.
“We’ll leave no stone unturned to ensure that every one of them is identified and punished under law. I have directed my police to get tough and track whoever is involved in abusing or intimidating these music enthusiasts,” Mr. Abdullah told The Hindu. “Rest assured that the police will hold the investigation with the full amount of seriousness and take the investigation to its logical conclusion.”
Mr. Abdullah said the decision on performing or not performing would be taken only by the young artists and their families, and the State government would create an atmosphere in which they would have more than one option. “The law will take its course, and I mean it,” he asserted.
Minutes after the Chief Minister’s conversation with this correspondent, the police in Srinagar confirmed that “FIR No: 05 of 2013 dated February 4, 2013” had been registered against anonymous persons at the Rajbagh Police Station under Sections 66-A of the IT Act and 506 of the Ranbir Penal Code.
Deputy Inspector General, Central Kashmir, Syed Ahfadul Mujtaba told The Hindu that the guilty would be liable to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment. He said a team of the Cyber-Crime Cell [CCC] of the district police was assiduously holding the investigation.
Well-placed sources disclosed that at least six of the suspects were identified and the cellphones and datacards of nearly 20 suspects put under surveillance. They said the CCC team, in coordination with the BSNL and some private Internet service providers, was scanning call detail records, uploading and downloading activity on social media networks, messages and pictures posted or tagged on different Facebook walls.
