Srinagar, Oct 27: Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrested Kashmiri Pandit activist Rakesh Handoo, alias Bunty, from Greater Faridabad in Haryana for his alleged role in circulating and amplifying fabricated terror threat letters targeting Kashmiri Pandit employees working under the Prime Minister’s Rehabilitation Package (PMRP) in the Valley.
A special team of Baramulla Police, in coordination with the local police, arrested the nearly 60-year-old activist from his residence. He was subsequently brought to Kashmir on transit remand.
The case stems from FIR No. 151/2026 registered at Police Station Baramulla under Sections 66F (cyberterrorism) and 84C of the Information Technology Act.
The investigation began on a complaint by a PMRP employee. According to police, Handoo allegedly used publicly accessible social media platforms, including X, to repeatedly share, modify and circulate digital threat circulars purportedly issued by groups calling themselves the “United Liberation Council” (ULC) and “Soldier of Resistance.”
Investigators allege he altered original identifying details in the material to project the complainant as a specific target, creating serious apprehension about his safety.
“The accused allegedly manipulated and repeatedly circulated terror-related threat material… on X, falsely projecting the complainant as the intended target by altering the original identifying details,” police said.
Cyber cells had earlier acted against original terror-linked accounts. Handoo was among those who allegedly continued to amplify the content. Police seized two mobile phones, obtained details of the X account and recovered documentary evidence, including eight social media posts. Witness statements and call detail records have also been obtained. Forensic and technical analysis reports are awaited.
A senior police official said investigators had gathered “substantial and serious clues” regarding Handoo’s involvement. Police said he was issued three notices under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita to join the investigation in Baramulla after the FIR was registered on September 21.
He allegedly failed to appear despite repeated summons, leading to the arrest warrant and subsequent action in Faridabad. Grounds of arrest were served on his wife.
The arrest relates to a series of threat posters that surfaced on social media in August, attributed to the little-known ULC (widely described by security agencies as a suspected front for Lashkar-e-Taiba).
The letters, dated around August 7, 23 and 27, named several Kashmiri Pandit employees, disclosed phone numbers, residential addresses in Jammu (down to house numbers and street names in some cases) and even vehicle details. They accused the employees of acting as “white-collar terrorists” and implementing an “RSS agenda.”
Handoo, known as a long-time Kashmiri Pandit activist who was active during the turbulent 1990s and is said by supporters to have stood with security forces at the time, unsuccessfully contested the 2008 Assembly elections against National Conference president Farooq Abdullah from Srinagar’s Hazratbal constituency. He had earlier publicly demanded a probe into the origin of the threat posters.
Around 6,000 Kashmiri Pandits have been provided government jobs under the special employment package introduced in 2010 to facilitate the return and rehabilitation of families displaced after the onset of militancy in 1990. The safety of these employees continues to remain a sensitive issue. Further investigation into the origin, motive and full extent of the threat material is continuing.
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