An İstanbul court on Thursday ruled for the arrest of 40 police officers over alleged involvement in a failed coup last July, the Cumhuriyet daily reported.
According to the report, 43 police officers were detained early on Thursday in simultaneous raids across İstanbul of whom 40 were sent to jail later the same day over their alleged use of a smart phone application known as ByLock .
ByLock is considered by Turkish authorities to be the top communication tool among followers of the faith-based Gülen movement, which is accused by the government of masterminding a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
Tens of thousands of civil servants, police officers and businessmen have either been dismissed or arrested for using ByLock since the failed coup attempt.
The coup attempt on July 15 killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
The movement denies any involvement.In the currently ongoing post-coup purge, over 135,000 people, including thousands within the military, have been purged due to their real or alleged connection to the Gülen movement, according to a statement by the labor minister on Jan. 10.
As of March 1, 93,248 people were being held without charge, with an additional 46,274 in pre-trial detention.A total of 7,316 academics were dismissed, and 4,070 judges and prosecutors were purged over alleged coup involvement or terrorist links.
(Turkey Purge)