5,116 preventive arrests in J&K since Aug 4: Home Ministry

New Delhi: Over 5,100 people were arrested in Kashmir since a day ahead of the withdrawal of special status given to J&K under Article 370, but only 609 including 218 stone pelters are currently under detention, the home ministry told Parliament on Wednesday.

"5,161 preventive arrests, including stone pelters, miscreants, OGWs (overground workers), separatists and political workers were made since August 4, 2019, in Kashmir Valley," MoS home G Kishan Reddy said in a statement in the Rajya Sabha. Of these, 609 persons, including 218 stone pelters, are presently under detention.

These include former CMs Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti. In a separate reply, Reddy said: "The government of Jammu and Kashmir has reported that a group of 27 Members of European Parliament paid a private visit to India from October 28, 2019, to November 1, 2019, at the invitation of the International Institute for Nonaligned Studies, a Delhibased think tank."