Days after some books in Jammu and Kashmir sparked controversy for allegedly glorifying separatism, the counter-intelligence wing of the J&K Police on Jattvibeday arrested three publishers.An investigation was launched after social and political groups raised objections to the content of books distributed under the Samagra Shiksha programme. The counter-intelligence wing recently conducted raids at Jammu and some places linked to the publishers in Delhi.The three arrested publishers are Inderpaul of Oberoi Book Service, Jammu, and Amardeep Singh and Girish Arora of Noida-based Dominant Publishers. Previously, both Oberoi Book Service and Dominant Publishers had been blacklisted by the government. Counter-intelligence teams conducted raids on their premises on July 6.The arrests are part of a broader investigation into the publication and distribution of books deemed to contain “highly inappropriate content”. Investigators were scrutinising the publishers’ roles in printing and distributing the material, officials said.The books in question are titled ‘Personalities and Legends of J&K’, authored by Hilal Ahmad and Santosh Meena and published by Oberoi Book Service, and ‘Great Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir’, authored by Sushant Giri and published by Delhi-based Anurag Prakashan.On July 4, the counter-intelligence unit registered an FIR under Sections 49 (abetment), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 152 (endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India), 196 (promoting enmity, disharmony) and 353 (publishing, or circulating false statements, rumours or reports) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), besides Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. This action was taken after two books available in government libraries were reported to contain material glorifying separatist leaders.On July 4, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha ordered the suspension of eight officials and supervisory staff members of the School Education Department after the matter came to light.An earlier order said: “It has come to the notice of the department that these books have highly inappropriate content. It is quite evident that there was serious negligence, dereliction of duty and lack of due diligence on the part of the members of the Sub-Committee Series 4 and supervisory officers while recommending such books which contained content related to separatism which has potential for creating law and order situations.”