Bengaluru: Three Kashmir students who were studying in a Hubballi engineering college granted bail as the police were not able to file a charge-sheet within the prescribed 90 days time. They have now been released from the Hidalaga jail in Belagavi and police have taken them to a safe place keeping in mind the fact that they were heckled the last time they were produced in court.
The three Kashmiri engineering students who were arrested on February 15, 2020, on sedition charges by the Hubballi-Dharwad Police, were remanded to judicial custody till 2 March 2020. The Kashmiri students studying in Hubballi were arrested on sedition charges for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans in a video that was shared widely on social media. They were booked under IPC 124A (sedition) and other sections relating to spreading communal disharmony and disturbing public tranquility and were in judicial custody till Feb 28th. They were released on a bond under Section 169 of the CrPc. It was a conditional release. But they were rearrested subsequently on March 2nd. They were transferred to Belgaum Hindalga jail from Hubli sub-jail. The case, registered in Gokul Road police station, was also transferred to the rural police station.
At the time the Home Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai had told the media that investigation would take place as per law and that “anti-nationals won’t be spared”. “Things will be done as per the law. Anti-nationals will not be spared, there are certain guidelines that need to be followed, this is why and to ensure that there are no legal hurdles later, they were released on a bond. I have asked the police commissioner to submit a report based on this. As far as I know, there were some doubts about which jurisdiction the incident falls under. All that has been taken care of now and they are in custody,” he said.
According to the police, due to lockdown, there was a delay in the charge sheet filing.
