Srinagar February 7: The J&K administration on Thursday slapped the Public Safety Act (PSA) against two former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.
Besides two ex-CMs, two other senior politicians Ali Muhammad Sagar and Sartaj Madni also have been detained under the PSA.
Both Omar and Mehbooba have been in preventive detention since August 5 in the wake of abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two union territories.
Omar is detained at Hari Niwas, a guesthouse located on the foothills of the Zabarwan mountain range in Srinagar, while Mehbooba has been kept in an official house located on MA Road in Srinagar.
Under the PSA, all four politicians can be detained up to three months which could be extended up to one year.
Sagar, a National Conference general secretary, has been accused of being vocal against abrogation of Articles 35A and 370. “He was involved in instigating youth, especially party workers. His capacity to disturb the public order can be gauged from the fact that he succeeded in mobilising voters in the peak of militancy and poll boycotts,” the PSA dossier against Sagar read.
Madni is PDP leader and maternal uncle of Mehbooba. Both Sagar and Madni were shifted from MLA Hostel and again placed under detention at their official residences on the Gupkar road in Srinagar.
“To keep Sagar and Madni under further detention, we have to invoke the PSA against them,” said a senior official. The government has accused Madni of instigating protests against the alleged rape and murder of two girls in 2009 in south Kashmir’s Shopian district.
The duo were released as their detention under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure lapsed on Wednesday. Officials said there was no provision in Section 107 to detain a person beyond six months.
