The Jammu and Kashmir administration has advised public at large not to believe the rumours and said that the news about weapons of special police officers of J&K being seized are fake news.
Public at large is further advised not to believe in such rumours/ baseless news and not to further spread such news without verifying from authentic sources: Home Secy, J&K
— DIPR-J&K (@diprjk) August 19, 2019
The advisory was issued after India Today published a report titled “J&K: Weapons of over 250 SPOs seized over fear of them joining terror groups” which stated that just days before the abrogation of Article 370, the weapons of over 250 SPOs (Special Police Officers) of Jammu and Kashmir were seized. The India Today article further quoted sources saying, “The authorities were prompted to seize the weapons of over 250 SPOs after reports of some of them going missing with their weapons emerged, an indication that they may have joined terror groups in the Valley,”
India Today report further stated that while the decision to take away weapons of SPOs was taken prior to abrogation of Article 370, the same has led to resentment amongst the SPOs. India Today then quoted a security official and said that while there won’t be rebellion, there is ‘anger’ amongst the ranks, which was why more central security forces were deployed.
The report even quotes an a constable, whose AK-47 as per the report was still with him and not seized as the report otherwise claimed, who was not too happy with abrogation of Article 370. The report stated that he held a master’s in political science and abrogation of Article 370 was like ‘killing somebody in their sleep’.
The Jammu and Kashmir government, however, has denied the media report and called it ‘fake news and rumour spread by vested interest’.
Meanwhile, India Today journalist Abhishek Bhalla who wrote the story has brazened it out and said that his sources were ‘credible’ and not based on rumours.
It’s taken 2 days for the govt to deny this story. A statement from @diprjk says vested interest spreading this fake news. As a responsible journalist, I have never fallen for rumours and the information came from credible sources within the system and not based on propaganda https://t.co/F2S9o9UPRB
— Abhishek Bhalla (@AbhishekBhalla7) August 19, 2019
He even added that the denial came two days after his story was published and how it was not really a direct denial to his story, the denial was perhaps to the ‘impact it had’.
Thanks Vijaita, it’s still not a direct denial to the story but to the impact it’s had I guess
— Abhishek Bhalla (@AbhishekBhalla7) August 19, 2019
