BENGALURU: Three Kashmiri students of two nursing colleges on the outskirts of Bengaluru were arrested on Saturday for allegedly spreading hatred by posting Facebook messages, criticising the Indian Army and supporting Pulwama suicide bomber Adil Ahmed Dar.Waquar Ahmat alias Harris Masoor, 19, of Kulgam district, Gowhar Mustaq, 21, of Baramulla district, both students of Spurthy College of Nursing and their friend Zakir Maqbol, 23, of Kupwara district allegedly attacked a collegemate, Koushik Debnath who questioned their act.Haris is a II year BSc (nursing) student and Gowhar and Debnath are pursuing III year diploma in General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) at Spurthy college in Bommanahalli. Zakir is fourth year B.Sc nursing student at Chinai nursing college in Benglauru Rural district.“We’ve registered a case of sedition, assault and intentional insult with intent to breach peace, under IPC sections and punishment for unlawful activities under section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967,” a Suryanagar police officer said.Police said Debnath had posted on his Facebook wall an Indian Army photo on February 14, condemning the Pulwama attack and mourning the CRPF martyrs. “The accused began posting messages against Debnath’s post. They supported the terror attack and abused India, the Army and CRPF jawans. The accused students met Debnath at his college canteen on February 15. When Debnath questioned about their FB comments, they abused and assaulted him,” an officer said.The news about the attack went viral on a WhatsApp group of college students and the management learnt about it on Saturday.“College principal Babu D approached Suryanagar police and filed a complaint against the accused. We registered a case and arrested the accused in the evening. We produced them before the local court which remanded them,” said PT Shivakumar, superintendent of police (Bengaluru Rural district).Police brought the matter to the notice of the National Investigating Agency (NIA) and on its directive, booked the accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 on NIA.Shivakumar said the case will be transferred to NIA for further investigation.Police said there are around 25 students from Kashmir at Spurthy college. “The accused have been granted scholarship for their study under a Union government scheme. Locals staged protests against them for supporting terrorists despite them studying with the help of Indian government. We sent them back by promising action against the accused,” an officer said.The accused deleted their posts soon after they learnt about the police case. “However, Debnath had saved screenshots of their abusive posts and we’ve collected them as evidence. We’ve also seized their cellphones and sent them to the forensic lab to retrieve data,” police said.In another case, Central Crime Branch (CCB) police on Sunday arrested a 20-year-old engineering dropout on Sunday for allegedly spreading hatred through Facebook posts.Faiz Rasheed, a resident of Kammanahalli near Banasawadi, east Bengaluru, allegedly hailed the suicide bomber as a hero of Kashmir.Faiz had joined an engineering college near Yelahanka to pursue BE in computer science but he dropped out and was searching for a job. He deleted all his posts and pictures soon after his posts were tagged to the Bengaluru city police commissionerate’s official Facebook page.Bengaluru city cybercrime police formed a team and arrested Faiz on Sunday. A case of sedition and punishment for unlawful activities has been registered at Banasawadi police station.Deputy chief minister G Parameshwara requested Kashmiri students to contact city police if they face any harassment over the Pulwama terror attack.He has also shared a tweet, from Twitter handle @CRPFmadadgaar, which provided CRPF helpline numbers 14411 (toll free) and 7082814411 for SMS in case any Kashmiri students are harassed and need speedy assistance.“In troubled times, it is imperative to stay united. Harassing, attacking or abusing #KashmiriStudents is not the solution for anything. Students from #JammuAndKashmir, please reach out to @BlrCityPolice or @CPBlr if you’re feeling unsafe and need help. We are one,” he tweeted.

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