Valley student booked in Dehradun for sending messages supporting Pulwama attack; reports of Kashmiris being 'harassed'

Dehradun/Srinagar: A Kashmiri student was booked for allegedly sending WhatsApp messages supporting the Pulwama suicide attack, amid reports that students from the Valley were being harassed in the Uttarakhand capital. The messages shared by the Kashmiri student on WhatsApp created tension and some right-wing Hindu outfits gheraoed the university, demanding immediate arrest of the student. The student was suspended by a private university in Dehradun on Friday. When asked whether landlords in Dehradun were under pressure from a section of the local population to not give rooms on rent to Kashmiri students, Dehradun SSP Nivedita Kukreti said there are such reports but no formal complaints have been received. She said Kashmiri students pursuing different courses in the institutions based in the city need not fear as there is adequate deployment of police personnel around their campuses and hostels. A police spokesperson said the Dehradun Police has assured the Jammu and Kashmir Police that they were in touch with the representative of youths from Kashmir and all necessary arrangements for the safety and security of students in Dehradun have been put in place. In his WhatsApp messages, the Kashmiri student compared the gruesome terror attack with the online battle game PUBG. Police have registered a case under Section 505 (2) (statements conducing to public mischief) of the IPC against the student who is yet to be traced. In view of the sensitivity of the Pulwama incident, ADG law and order Ashok Kumar has appealed to people to maintain calm and not to take law into their hands.