Conflict

‘House detention’ of senior Congress leader Saif-u-din Soz ends, ‘allowed to move out’

Srinagar: The house detention of the senior Congress leader from Kashmir Saif-u-din Soz, ended on Monday. Chandigarh based newspaper The Tribune quoted Soz as having said that he was free to venture out of his residence but regretted that the government of India was carrying out arrests and releases of political leaders while ensuring ‘no records’ were maintained.

“I was told by a guard on August 5, 2019, that I have been placed under house arrest. When I asked about the orders, he said these days everything is done verbally. Now yesterday evening, I was informed by the security guard verbally that I was free from house detention,” The Tribune reported.

Earlier on July 30, Soz said that he is going to sue the JK authorities for keeping him ‘unlawfully’ under house arrest since August last year, as JK administration had “informed the Supreme Court of India that the Congress leader was never detained or stopped to move out.”

Pertinently, hundreds of political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, including former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were arrested in August last year and the stringent Public Safety Act was invoked against many of them.

In March, days before the countrywide lockdown was announced, the Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah were released, however, PDP chief and former JK Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was allowed to shift home, where she is still officially under detention.

 

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