PUCL criticises Tripura Police for booking Lawyer, part of fact-finding group

On Friday, Rights group People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) criticised the Tripura Police for registering a complaint against a team of Delhi-based advocates under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Indian Penal Code (IPC), claiming that the police action against a lawyer, Mukesh, was linked to the group’s fact-finding report on the recent violence in Tripura’s Panisagar, where a mosque, few houses and shops were reportedly vandalised by activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

Mukesh was part of the team that authored the report, the group said.

The lawyer has been booked for allegedly “promoting enmity among two religious groups as well as provoking the people of different religious communities to cause breach of police”. The case was filed under Section 13 of UAPA, besides various sections of the penal code.

No reaction from the Tripura police was available on the PUCL statement over the case against the lawyers from Delhi who are part of a group, ‘Lawyers for Democracy’.

In its notice that told Mukesh to appear for questioning by November 10, the Tripura police said: “During the investigation, your involvement has been found in connection with the case. As such, there are reasonable grounds to ascertain the facts and circumstances relating to the case.”

The state police have booked 71 people and filed five criminal cases over alleged fake and provocative posts on social media.

“..police have invoked the draconian provisions of UAPA law only because of the findings of the FFT (fact-finding team) that the large scale violence which destroyed numerous homes, shops, mosques and other properties of Muslims in many towns in Tripura was the result of orchestrated violence unleashed by Hindu majoritarian groups like the VHP and HJM, against minority Muslims with the tacit connivance and conscious abdication of their duties by the Tripura police, “ PUCL said in its statement.

The fact finding team of advocates Mukesh, Ansar Indori, Ehtesham Hashmi and Amit Srivastav came to Tripura on October 29 , three days after vandalism of a mosque, few houses and shops at Panisagar in North District.

The National Human Rights Commission has sought a report from the state government to seek details of the action taken on the violence at Panisagar within four weeks. The Tripura high court also took suo moto notice and sought a detailed report from the state government by Nov 10.

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