J&K Police Recovers Arms During Raids At Kashmir Times Office Days After Red Fort Blast

The Jammu & Kashmir Police raided the office of The Kashmir Times in Jammu on Thursday for allegedly promoting anti-national activities, NDTV reported.

The State Investigation Agency officials found AK-47 cartridges, pistol rounds and three grenade levers during the searches, sources told the publication.

A First Information Report (FIR) was also registered against Kashmir Times for allegedly spreading disaffection, glorifying secessionism and threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India and the Union Territory. Kashmir Times Executive Editor Anuradha Bhasin is also named in the FIR.

The investigation aims to examine the paper's alleged links and activities that "threaten the sovereignty" of India, the sources said.

Prabodh Jamwal and Anuradha Bhasin, senior editors of Kashmir Times. said the accusations levelled against them were “designed to intimidate, to delegitimise and ultimately to silence”.

“We will not be silenced. We are being targeted precisely because we continue to do our work. In an era when critical voices are increasingly scarce, we remain one of the few independent outlets willing to speak truth to power,” the editors said, in a joint statement, reported The Hindu.

The Kashmir Times is one of the oldest and most prominent newspapers of Jammu & Kashmir. It was founded by Ved Bhasin and produced as a weekly newspaper in 1954, before being converted into a daily in 1964.

The security agencies have stepped up their probe into the conspiracy behind the Nov.10 blast outside the Red Forst in the national capital. The terror attack claimed 15 lives.