Jammu and Kashmir police have registered a first information report (FIR) against Mushtaq Chaya, a prominent hotelier, and others for allegedly defying coronavirus disease (Covid-19) lockdown orders and driving from Jammu to Srinagar, a distance of 270 kms, using the official car of a person of influence.
HT has accessed a copy of the FIR registered on Thursday under Section 188 (disobedience of order promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3 (disobedience of an order promulgated under) the Epidemic Diseases Act .
Chaya owns hotels in Jammu and Srinagar and his Facebook profile mentions that he is chairman of the PHD Chamber of Commerce in Kashmir.
A senior police officer who requested anonymity said: “We have initiated an investigation. Our first priority is to quarantine them at Srinagar. We have contacted Srinagar police and asked them to quarantine them. Yes, they have reached Srinagar from Jammu.”
The police officer declined to identify the person of influence in whose car Chaya and others drove to Srinagar. “No one would confirm it at this stage”, the officer said.
When reached for comment, Chaya’s son Wasim Chaya said the matter had been sorted out. He said his father would speak on the phone in a few minutes, which he never did.