Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir police have filed cases against a ruling National Conference leader and Lok Sabha MP, and a former mayor of Srinagar on Tuesday (March 3) for “creating fear, disturbing public order, and inciting unlawful activities”.The action comes a day after the two leaders – MP Syed Aga Ruhullah and former mayor Junaid Mattu – shared a video on their social media accounts which purported to show a male police official assaulting a woman protester who was seemingly dragging a woman police official during an anti-Israel and anti-US protest in Srinagar on Monday.Some fools in J&K Police and administration think that by withdrawing/downgrading my security detail and suspending my Facebook account will stop me from calling out their atrocities. It is laughable!Neither am I fascinated by these petty things nor scared by their absence…— Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi (@RuhullahMehdi) March 3, 2026“The police acted on credible inputs regarding the circulation of false, fabricated and misleading content across digital and social media platforms with the intent to create fear, disturb public order, and incite unlawful activities and has registered cases against Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi and Junaid Azim Mattu in connection with the matter,” a police spokesperson said.The spokesperson said that the content, prima facie, “reflected dissemination of distorted narratives and unverified information capable of causing public unrest and societal disharmony”.Two FIRs have been registered under Sections 197(1)(d) (publishing false or misleading information, jeopardising the sovereignty, unity and integrity or security of India) and 353(1)(b) (publishing, or circulating false information with the intent to cause – or which are likely to cause – fear or alarm to the public, inducing someone to commit an offense against the state or public tranquility) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) at Cyber Police Station, Srinagar.“Investigation into both cases has been initiated and is underway. Further legal action shall follow as warranted under law,” the police said.‘Security cover downgraded’Ruhullah posted on X, formerly Twitter, that his security cover was also downgraded by the administration in response to his criticism of police action against the women protesters here on Monday.The senior leader was a Z category protectee who was allotted an armoured vehicle with security escort of two vehicles out of which one has been withdrawn while some security personnel from police lines and security lines have also been recalled, a close aide of Ruhullah told The Wire.The Lok Sabha MP had also described the curbs imposed by the administration since Monday in Lal Chowk in the aftermath of the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a “disgrace”.Meanwhile, Mattu who served as the mayor of Srinagar from 2020 to 2023 also said that his security was withdrawn over his statements on Khamenei’s “martyrdom” in a joint US-Israel strike in downtown Tehran on Sunday.A Z-category protectee who was also allotted an armoured vehicle with a paramilitary escort and three personal security officers, Mattu was affiliated with the BJP-ally Altaf Bukhari’s J&K Apni Party before resigning in 2024.In his post, Mattu alleged that he was targeted for speaking against the Union government’s “moral abdication and deafening silence on the issue of the illegitimate barbaric onslaught on Iran by US and Israel”.Hundreds of political leaders and even some journalists in Kashmir have been assigned personal security officers and official vehicles on the basis of threat perception by the police administration which is under the lieutenant governor in the Union territory of J&K.There was no official reaction to the allegations of Ruhullah and Mattu regarding the downgrading of their security at the time when this report was filed.Mattu who has dabbled with several political parties including the ruling National Conference and Sajad Lone’s Peoples Conference accused the “fellow mainstream leaders” of having “surrendered and sold their tongues to the BJP-led Government” and sounding “shamefully diplomatic” in their responses to the ongoing conflict.However, the leaders of the ruling party including the chief minister Omar Abdullah as well as the opposition Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti and others have criticised the US and Israel for attacking Iran.Mattu also referred to the blocking of some social media accounts, including those operated by the registered news organisations like Greater Kashmir and Kashmir Life among others, allegedly due to their coverage of the ongoing protests in Kashmir against the assassination of Khamenei.The former mayor alleged that there was pressure on the media organisations to “not cover the mass mourning being witnessed in Kashmir over the martyrdom of Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei”.Note: This report has been updated since publication.