SRINGAR: After facing severe criticism from political parties over the arrest and booking of a man for “promoting enmity” over his comments that he has “got no expectations from non-local officers” during a public durbar of L-G’s advisor, police released him on Wednesday.
“Sajad Rashid Sofi was released in the morning today. He was handed over to his family,” a police official said. Sofi, 55, a resident of the Safapora area of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district was arrested on June 10. His arrest came a few hours after he attended public interaction with Baseer Ahmad Khan at Mansbal. Sofi, a trader and civil society member, told Khan that he did not have any expectations from non-local officers.
“I have expectations of you because you are a Kashmiri and you can understand us. I can catch hold of your collar and seek answers from you but what expectations can I have from non-local officers,” Sofi had said. Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal Krittika Jyotsnaa, a 2014-batch IAS officer from UP, who was present there had taken exception to the remarks and strongly objected to them.