Companies at tech park consulting legal experts

BENGALURU: Seven months after the Centre abrogated Article 370 that accorded special status to J&K, police have issued a notice to companies in one of Bengaluru's largest business parks seeking details of people from the UT.Cops say they have asked the companies housed in the business park to provide the details to maintain law and order. Activists and lawyers slammed the police notice and called it "unwarranted profiling" of people from J&K. "For law and order purpose, please give the details of employees who are originally from J&K and are working in various companies at Manyata Embassy Park in Nagawara Ring Road," the notice issued by Sampigehalli police station on March 5 read.The notice, a copy of which is with TOI, is signed by the station house officer and seeks names of employees from J&K, their mobile numbers, current address in Bengaluru, and the duration of their stay/work at the respective companies.According to sources, companies in the business park received the notice on Tuesday and are consulting legal experts before moving forward.Asked why they were collecting details of employees from Jammu & Kashmir, Sampigehalli inspector and SHO Nandakumar M said, “It’s nothing. We’ve just asked for it.” When pressed further, he refused to elaborate. Multiple calls made subsequently went unanswered.Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao told TOI: “We have not issued directions to any police station to collect such details. I will look into the issue. The department has never endeavoured to collect individual details and no police station has been asked to do it at their level either.” News of the notice has been doing the rounds, triggering confusion and panic among employees.“Is it legal for the police to demand such details? Such measures will only add to apprehension among minority community members. This is unconstitutional. The companies may give away details since it’s a police notice. What about the safety of people from J&K living in Bengaluru? Why do police need our addresses,” asked an employee of one of the companies which received the notice.However, an Embassy Group spokesperson said he was unaware of any such notice. According to developers, Embassy Manyata is spread over 121.76 acres with 14.2 million square feet of leasable area.“It is the largest office park in Bengaluru and the second largest in India. It has 11 million square feet builtup area and houses 68 tenants with over 1 lakh park users,” they claimed.Advocate and rights activist Clifton Rozario said: “Cops can ask for such details only if they have credible evidence against any person or a group… This kind of random profiling is illegal. Every time authorities do such things, they undermine the Constitution and people’s belief in the system.”“Legal action should be taken against the officer if he has issued the notice without any instructions from the department,” said another activist. “There is no law in India that allows police to seek such details. Is J&K not part of India?” asked Supreme Court advocate KV Dhananjay.