Kashmiri freelance journalist Irfan Mehraj was arrested in 2023 on terrorism funding allegations. As of late 2024, Mehraj was held in New Delhi’s Rohini Jail Complex awaiting trial, following repeated postponements of bail hearings, a person familiar with the case told CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.
Mehraj is facing charges under the penal code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). India has seen an uptick in the incarceration of journalists under security laws over the last decade, particularly in the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir following the 2019 repeal of its special autonomy status.
On March 20, 2023, the counterterrorism National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Mehraj after he responded to a phone call from investigators who asked him to come to their office in Srinagar, the largest city in Jammu and Kashmir, for “five minutes” questioning, that person said.
The NIA said that Mehraj’s arrest was linked to a 2020 investigation over alleged terrorism funding and that Mehraj worked with the Srinagar-based human rights group Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), which it has alleged funded terrorism and advocated for secession. The NIA also said Mehraj was a close associate of JKCCS coordinator Khurram Parvez, who was arrested on terrorism allegations in 2021.
Following his arrest, Mehraj was questioned about his journalism, according to a journalist familiar with the case who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.
Mehraj worked as a researcher and editor with JKCCS but left following 2020 NIA raids on several Kashmiri human rights defenders, including Parvez, according to the two people familiar with the case.
Two other journalists told CPJ, on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal, that they believed authorities targeted Mehraj because of his civil society work and critical reporting on government policies and abuses, including allegations of extrajudicial killings and surveillance in Kashmir.
NIA officers had previously questioned Mehraj over the terrorism-funding investigation and his journalism, including articles since removed from the online Kashmir-focused Wande Magazine, where he was founding editor.
Mehraj is also an editor at TwoCircles.net news website, which reports on marginalized communities in India.
In September 2023, the NIA filed a chargesheet against Mehraj, which cited unnamed witnesses and referred to unidentified electronic evidence, according to one of the journalists familiar with Mehraj’s case.
NIA spokesperson Jaya Roy referred CPJ’s request for comment to Public Relations Officer Amit Kumar, who did not respond to CPJ’s calls and messages as of late 2024.