Srinagar, June 15: An RTI application, seeking information regarding the awards and promotions given to the police personnel for anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir, was turned down by the state government saying such a disclosure could be a "threat" to the state's interest.
 "The information pertaining to awards and promotions to the state police personnel for anti-militancy operations from 1989 to 2012 was denied by invoking section 8 of the J&K RTI act 2009," said a release issued by Khurram Parvaiz of Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), a human rights group, said.
  The JKCCS had applied for the information from the department of Home on April 26.
 The rights group claimed that the department after a delay of 40 days, on June 6, transferred the RTI application to the Public Information Officer of the Police Headquarters, which rejected the information on June 11 citing Section 8 of the J&K RTI Act 2009.
 According to the section, the disclosure of the information related to awards and promotions for anti-militancy operations would be "prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of the country, besides being a threat to the security, strategic interests of the state."
 "This denial is an admission by the Jammu and Kashmir Police that the state does have a policy of incentivising the arrests and killings of militants," JKCCS alleged.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 15 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 15 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 16 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST