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    Farooq Abdullah, held since August 5, now booked under PSA

    Synopsis

    Farooq Abdullah has been under house arrest since August 5 when the Centre announced abrogation of the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370.

    farooq-abdullah-bccl
    NEW DELHI: The J&K administration has applied provisions under the stringent Public Safety Act for 15 days on National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah. The move came hours before the Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre on Monday on a habeas corpus petition. The next date of the hearing is on September 30, when the 15 days will expire. After Abdullah was slapped with PSA provisions by the state administration, his residence was declared a subsidiary jail late on Sunday night.

    81-year-old Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah and PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, all former chief ministers of J&K, have been under house arrest since August 5, the day the Centre removed special status to J&K. “Abdullah has been named under the ‘public order’ provision of the PSA under which a person can be jailed without trial for several months,” an official said.

    The 1978 Act has two sections ‘public order’ and ‘threat to security of the state’. As per its provision, any person can be detained without trial for 3-6 months under public order and for two years for being a threat to national security. The administration is required to constitute a committee which confirms the action under PSA.

    A heavy security blanket has been thrown around Abdullah’s Gupkar Road residence. The official also confirmed that Abdullah was booked under PSA to prevent him from participating in a rally planned by opposition leaders ahead of the UNGA session next month. The former CM had last addressed the media on August 6 and expressed unhappiness over the Centre’s decision to remove J&K’s special status.

    Home minister Amit Shah reviewed the security situation in J&K along with NSA Ajit Doval and Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Home Secretary AK Bhalla and IB chief Arvind Kumar. During the two-hour meeting, a detailed presentation on the current security situation in the Valley was made.

    Shah asked security forces to step up vigil at the border and strengthen Army’s anti-infiltration grid. Intelligence agencies have warned about the presence of nearly 230 terrorist at ‘launch pads’ across the border and claimed that at least five groups, comprising 5-7 militants, have managed to enter the Valley in north Kashmir. In another development, governor Satya Pal Malik met PM Modi and briefed him about the scenario in the state.


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    ( Originally published on Sep 16, 2019 )
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