SRINAGAR A court here on Saturday sought the presence of former Station House Officer (SHO) and Head Constable Police station Batamaloo on 11 June to record their statements pertaining to the arrest of journalist Asif Sultan.
The court passed the direction after the police officers failed to turn up at todays hearing. Asif, who was working as Assistant Editor at monthly magazine Kashmir Narrator, was picked up by police from his home in Batamaloo during a nocturnal raid in August last year. He was kept for six days in police custody before he was formally arrested.
The police have accused him of hatching a criminal conspiracy and harbouring militants.
Several international journalistic and human rights bodies including IFJ, CPJ, RSF and Amnesty International have condemned his arrest and demanded his release.