Poonch, June 28(KNS): The family of Qari Muhammad Iqbal, a teacher at the Jamia Zia Ul Uloom Islamic seminary in Poonch, has issued legal notices to Zee News and News18 India.

They are seeking compensation of ?5 crore from each channel, claiming that their reports falsely linked Iqbal to terrorist organizations and misrepresented the circumstances of his death.

Iqbal was killed on May 7 when a shell fired by Pakistani artillery struck the seminary during Operation Sindoor. The artillery attack on Poonch killed several civilians and damaged homes. Iqbal succumbed to injuries caused by shrapnel from the shell that hit the seminary.

Following his death, both Zee News and News18 India aired reports identifying Iqbal as a top commander of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

These reports claimed he was killed in an Indian airstrike targeting a terror facility in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). The channels also linked him to groups such as Hizbul Mujahideen and falsely suggested his involvement in the Pulwama attack, which targeted Indian security forces in 2019.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel

The legal notices, sent by advocate S. S. Ahmed on behalf of Iqbal’s family, accuse the channels of spreading misinformation. The family argues that the broadcasts, which included Iqbal’s photo and made false claims about his connections to terrorism, caused significant damage to his reputation and to the family’s honor.

Though both channels have issued apologies for the mistaken reports, the family argues that these apologies are insufficient to repair the harm caused. In the legal notice, they state that the impact of the false reports is severe and irreversible, and demand ?5 crore each from the two channels as compensation for the damage.

The family maintains that the allegations against Iqbal are baseless and the reports from Zee News and News18 India misrepresented the facts surrounding his death.(KNS).