Binoo Joshi
JK News Today
Srinagar, October 13:
Jammu and Kashmir Government has set free chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti , ending her 14-month long detention that began on August 5, 2019 when the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was scrapped and its statehood split into two Union Territories. She was currently under PSA detention .
Her release has come after the Supreme Court had questioned the Government as to how long are they going keep under arrest.
Mehbooba Mufti, who was Chief Minister of the PDP-BJP coalition government from 2016 to 2018 , was arrested on August 5, hours before the Government scrapped Article 370 and Article 35 A . She was kept in Chashma Shahi hut for few months before being shifted to a Government bungalow in Transport Lane of Srinagar. In March, however, she was restored to her house at Gupkar Road under PSA detention.
The news about her release was first announced on twitter by J&K Government’s principal Secretary Information Rohit Kansal and within minutes Mehbooba’s daughter Iltija who was handling her mother’s twitter handle confirmed it before signing off.
Iltija wrote :” As Ms. Mufti’s illegal detention finally comes to an end ,I would like to thank everybody who supported m in these tough times. I owe a debt of gratitude to you all. This is iIlitija signing off.”
Police sources said that “ a letter of her release would be handed over to Mehbooba . As she is in her house, she doesn’t have to come out any jail as such.”
This marks one of the longest detentions of political leaders in the recent years.
It may be recalled that two other former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah were set free in March this year.
