Jammu and Kashmir police have clarified that its order on attaching the properties of those harbouring militants would not apply to those who do so under “duress” but put the onus of proving this on the house owner.

Many are viewing this as a frying pan-to-fire situation as providing information to the police about militants seeking shelter by force would put the person doing so in a potentially life-threatening decision.

Srinagar police had on Thursday kicked up a storm by tweeting that they had started the process of attaching immovable properties that have been used for the purpose of militancy.

The police had said the move was being implemented under Sections 2 (g) and 25 of the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and warned residents against sheltering militants. “Don’t give shelter or harbour militants/ associates. Legal action will be supplemented by property attachments as per law,” Srinagar police had said.

However, neither section of the UAPA has any provision that allows the seizure or attachment of properties for sheltering militants. They apply to those properties that are built with the “proceeds of terrorism”.

The decision triggered panic in the Valley as many residents, mostly in the countryside, receive daily knocks from militants for shelter.

“For God’s sake tell me what you should tell an armed militant knocking at your door and putting a gun to one’s head? What will you tell them? Would they accept there is some police order? What injustice is this, what kind of state are we living in that the police are intimidating us,” National Conference spokesperson Sara Hayat Shah said in a video message.

In a statement on Saturday, the police accused “certain quarters” of spreading “misinformation” and “rumours” over the attachment of properties “used for purpose of terrorism”.

“It is clarified that Srinagar police is well aware of the difference between wilful harbouring of terrorists and one done under duress,” a spokesman said.

“The attachments being done are for properties where it has been proved beyond doubt that the house owner/ member had wilfully provided shelter/ harboured terrorists, in most cases for days together and that it was not done under any duress whatsoever,” the spokesperson added.

The police said attachment proceedings were initiated only in the advanced stages of an investigation.

But these statements did little to provide any comfort to Kashmir residents as the police also said: “The onus always lies on the house owner/ member to prove duress by informing the authorities well in time that there is/ was forceful entry of terrorists into his/ her house.”

Many are seeing this as another way of asking residents to become police informers.

“(We) request citizens not to provide shelter or harbour terrorists in their homes or immovable properties, failing which lawful procedures will take their own course in full letter and spirit,” the police said.

“There is and will always be zero tolerance towards terrorism and supporters of terrorism in a civilised society like ours.”