There seems to be no end to arrest of minors by police in Kashmir, with fresh reports indicating that few minors lodged at Juvenile Home here are not able to bail themselves out “due to the refusal of cops to provide them the necessary reports.”
According to official sources, few minors detained from Srinagar in the past one week on charges of stone-throwing have been lodged at the Juvenile Home at Harvan here. “They are eagerly waiting to be bailed out, but are not able to do so because police is not giving them the requite reports which they can produce before a court,” they said.
Five minors, identified as Mozin Yaqoob from Nowhatta, Bilal Ahmad Makdoomi from Gojwara, Arban Hussain from Nowhatta, Muhammad Danish from Rainawari and Sameer Muabark from Dalgate, were shifted by police to Juvenile Home a week ago, the sources disclosed.
An official at the Juvenile Home admitted these five minors were lodged there.
“Once their parents get the bail orders, we will hand over their wards to them,” the official said.
However, parents of these children said police did not give them reports so that they could obtain a bail from court. “Our applications are lying in police stations of Nowhatta and Rainawari,” they said.
According to data available with officials at Juvenile Home, 506 minors have been detained there on charges of stone-throwing since 2009 and later released.
Officials however have no record of detention of minors before the Home was set-up.
“Before the Juvenile Home was set up, minors were detained and lodged in respective police stations and later released,” an official said.
The Juvenile Home is highly fortified. Besides strong fencing, the building is surrounded with concertina wire.
The Home is being managed by the Social Welfare Department but is no different from a jail, said a minor who was lodged there until recently.
It has 18 rooms whose doors and window are closed with angular-iron and remain always locked, he said.
