Overview
- Bashaarat Masood was called to Srinagar’s Cyber Police Station on four days between January 15 and 19 and declined to sign a bond promising not to disturb peace.
- Police took him before a magistrate on January 16 seeking preventive action under BNSS Section 126, which allows bonds based on information received rather than an FIR.
- He spent at least 15 hours at the station over those days, with officers not specifying a reason during his visits, according to The Indian Express.
- An officer indicated the summons were connected to his report on a four-page police form distributed to mosques seeking details on budgets, funding sources, and management committees.
- Scroll.in reported at least four national reporters were summoned in similar fashion, while senior police officials did not provide comment and public figures denounced the pressure on journalists.