JAMMU: J&K police’s special wing State Investigation Agency (SIA) searched Thursday the long-shuttered office of Kashmir Times in Jammu after an FIR alleged the 71-year-old English-language newspaper had engaged in “criminal conspiracy with secessionist and other antinational entities”. A parallel search was conducted at editor Prabodh Jamwal’s home in the city.An official spokesperson said investigators seized a revolver, 14 empty AK-series cases, three live AK rounds, four “fired bullets,” three grenade safety levers, three pistol rounds, documents, and digital devices from the Residency Road office. According to the spokesperson, the seizures suggest possible unlawful possession and suspected linkages with “extremist or antinational elements”. Searches were conducted in the presence of an executive magistrate.The FIR alleges Kashmir Times and kashmirtimes.com have been propagating “terrorist and secessionist ideology”, pushing “inflammatory, fabricated and false narratives”, attempting to radicalise J&K youth, and inciting disaffection and separatism “through print and digital content”. It accuses the platform of challenging India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Jamwal and his wife, managing editor Anuradha Bhasin — who moved to the US several years ago and were abroad during the operation — rejected the allegations in a joint response published on the paper’s digital edition. “The accusations levelled against us are designed to intimidate, to delegitimise, and ultimately to silence. We will not be silenced,” they wrote.They said Kashmir Times — founded by Anuradha’s father Ved Bhasin in 1954 — has “stood as a pillar of independent journalism”, chronicling “triumphs and failures with equal rigour”, amplifying marginalised voices, and asking difficult questions. “We are being targeted precisely because we continue to do this work,” they said, adding that the print edition was suspended in 2021–22 after “relentless targeting”, though digital operations continue.Calling the allegations “bizarre” and “baseless”, Jamwal and Bhasin said they had received no formal communication from authorities and stressed the Jammu office had been shut for four years. “Criticising govt is not the same as being inimical to the state,” they wrote. “A robust, questioning press is essential to a healthy democracy.”PDP functionary Iltija Mufti condemned the action, saying Kashmir Times had long resisted efforts to silence it. On X, she posted: “Invoking anti-national activities is preposterous & reeks of high handedness. In Kashmir every outlet of truth is being choked. Are we all antinationals?”J&K deputy CM Surinder Singh Choudhary urged fairness and restraint. “If they have done something wrong, then action should be taken… If you do it only to exert pressure, then that will be wrong,” he told reporters in Jammu.
