Srinagar: Police on Wednesday summoned The Kashmir Walla’s editor, Fahad Shah, for reportage of Nawa Kadal encounter in which two militants were killed and more than 10 house were damaged.
In a statement issued by the media outlet, Shah received a phone call from an unknown number and directed him to report to the Cyber Police Station in Srinagar.
“I reached the police station at about 1:30 pm and was seated in a room as the staff informed senior officials of my arrival. For the next two hours the reason for the summon was still not conveyed. At about 3:34 pm, a senior official led me to another room in the police station where five other police officials, including senior officials, were present,” he said in the statement.
“For the next 15-20 minutes, I was asked questions about my educational background and career, including a list of publications that I write for other than The Kashmir Walla, and my posts on social media. The officials then proceeded to express their objection to our coverage of the aftermath of the Nawakadal gunfight yesterday,” he added
The Kashmir Walla had posted a video of the families who leveled allegations forces.
“The officials accused me of ‘maligning the police’s reputation’. My response to their objection was that the report were interviews of local residents, on camera, whose houses had been burned. If the police differed with the allegations of the local residents, we would have given equal space to the same in our report as a professional journalist. However, no such clarification was given,” Shah said.
“I was asked to leave shortly after this and taken back to the same room where I had waited earlier. I waited in the room for another hour. I was finally allowed to leave the police station at around 6:00 pm,” he further said.

Reader correspondent