PSA dossier calls Doda MLA 'habitual offender, history-sheeter'

SRINAGAR: In its dossier on AAP MLA Mehraj Malik , who has been detained under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), J&K administration describes him as “a habitual offender and history-sheeter”, who is “known to assert himself as a self-styled leader, making irresponsible statements as if law of land does not apply to him”.

The dossier, accessed by TOI, alleges that the Doda legislator’s “modus operandi includes using social media handles, especially ‘Facebook Live’, to mount verbal and derogatory attacks on anybody who tries to stand up against his illegal demands, and spreading false information to more than two lakh followers”. He has also been accused of instigating the public in sensitive areas of Doda district.

While the dossier admits that Malik is very influential in Chenab region of Jammu, it states that “he has no respect for harmonious coexistence” and that “causing unrest and violence has become his daily habit”.

The PSA dossier says “despite multiple legal actions, including FIRs and other preventive measures taken against him from time to time, the MLA has neither mended his ways nor shown any inclination to desist from such prejudicial activities”. Instead, he “has been recorded to incite the public to burn govt offices and to act like ‘Lashkar’s Burhan Wani’, to get all illegal demands met through force, threat, heckling and physical assault,” it states.

The dossier further accuses Malik of believing in “goondaism” and motivating youth to consume ‘chitta’ (drugs) “to increase IQ”.

During Operation Sindoor, the MLA openly issued threats to govt officials in his constituency and sought to incite public hostility against the administration, it states.

It lists 18 FIRs filed against him, including on complaints of misbehaving with election duty staff, organising a public rally without permission, and threatening to drag and strip a doctor of Doda Govt Medical College. Malik is also accused of using abusive words against GMC doctors in his social media live videos, and of “theft” of essential medicines.

In the dossier, it was recommended that “in the interest of society” and in view of Malik’s regular habit of threatening and assaulting people, including govt officials, coupled with his “habit of spreading misinformation, call for undressing women, glorification of proscribed terrorists and drug abuse and activities aimed at disturbing communal peace and order”, the MLA be detained under PSA “for a maximum period”.

Malik, AAP’s lone MLA in J&K, was detained under PSA on Sept 8 and lodged in Kathua district jail. The move evoked protests in Doda district and has also drawn sharp criticism from all non-BJP parties in Kashmir, with PDP on Saturday demanding a special assembly session to pass a resolution to condemn the MLA’s detention and call for his release.