A special court in Delhi on Monday granted bail to Kashmiri photojournalist Manan Gulzar Dar booked under India’s terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. He was arrested on 22 October 2021 by the National Investigations Agency (NIA) in connection with a Kashmir militant conspiracy case.
NIA also arrested Manan’s brother, Hanan Gulzar Dar, a college student following a raid at Mannan’s home in Kashmir’s Srinagar. He is currently lodged in Tihar jail along with his brother.
“We will move for Hanan’s bail next,” Yasir, Mannan’s cousin, told Maktoob. The family believes the bail for one brother will help the case of the other.
Dar was a contributor for The Guardian, Getty Images and Pacific Press Agency. Committee for the Protection of Journalists listed him as one of the seven journalists jailed in India.
Four out of seven are Kashmiri journalists.
Advocates Tara Narula, Tamanna Pankaj and Priya Vats represented the accused before the Patiala House Court of Delhi and secured his bail, Association for Protection of Civil Rights
(APCR) said in a statement.
The legal aid group was approached by the family to represent the young journalist.
Dar was arrested under Sections 18, 18A, 18B, 20, 38, and 39 of the UAPA and sections 120B, 121A, 122, and 123 of the Indian Penal Code.
According to CPJ, Dar was being held in pretrial detention under UAPA for conspiring “both physically and in cyberspace” and planning terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
He is also under investigation under the Indian penal code for criminal conspiracy and designing to wage war against India, according to a government detention order reviewed by CPJ.
