Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Police has become the first police force in the country to introduce GPS tracker anklets for monitoring the militant accused out on bail, officials said on Saturday.
The GPS tracker anklet is a wearable device affixed around the ankle of the person to be monitored and tracks their movement. The device is already being used in Western countries such as the USA, United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to track the movement of accused persons on bail, parole and house arrest and accordingly de-congests prisons to a large extent.
The officials of the State Investigation Agency (SIA) of J&K Police have introduced the GPS tracker anklet for monitoring of bail-out militant accused, the officials said. They said the J&K Police is the first police department in the country to introduce such a device. The officials said the devices were introduced after a Special NIA Court, Jammu, passed an order directing the police to affix a GPS tracker anklet on a militant accused — the importance of which was highlighted by the prosecution department of the police. Giving details of the case, the officials said in an FIR registered under various sections of UAPA, accused Ghulam Mohd Bhat had applied for bail. During the pendency of the bail hearing, the accused sought to be released on interim bail. The accused is undergoing trial for being associated with different militant organisations and being involved in militant financing at the behest of militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), they said. Bhat was arrested in the current FIR while attempting to transport the proceeds of militancy to the tune of Rs 2.5 lakh at the behest of HM.
The accused is also convicted by the NIA Court Patiala House, Delhi, in another case for being associated with a militant outfit and for conspiracy for a militant act, the officials said.
In the Special NIA Court, Jammu, the importance of close monitoring of the militant accused and the stringent conditions for grant of bail under the UAPA, 1967, was highlighted by the prosecution department of Zonal Police Headquarters (ZPHQ), Jammu, the officials said. “Finding merit in the submissions of the prosecution, the Special NIA Court, Jammu, was pleased to pass an order directing J&K Police to affix a GPS tracker anklet on the accused,” they added.
J&K Police is the pioneering police department in the country to provide for affixing of GPS tracker anklets to persons seeking bail, they said.
