Mehbooba reaches 'Fair View' after 8 months

After more than eight months of incarceration, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and PDP President, Mehbooba Mufti today was shifted from a make-shift jail to her official Gupkar residence in Srinagar. Mehbooba reached her residence namely, ‘Fair View’ around 4: 06 PM. However, her detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) will continue as her Gupkar residence that has been declared as a subsidiary jail.

READ | BREAKING: Mehbooba Mufti Shifted To Her Residence; Ex-CM's Detention Under PSA Continues

“In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (b) of Section 2 of the Prisoners Act, 1990, the government hereby declares Fairview, Gupkar Road, Srinagar as 'Subsidiary Jail'," an order issued by Principal Secretary to Government, Shaleen Kabra, read. Mufti, along with two other former chief ministers - Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah - was detained on 5th August 2019, when the Government of India abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and 35A and bifurcated the erstwhile State into two Union Territories.

READ | Omar Abdullah Issues First Response As Mehbooba Mufti Is Shifted To Her Home Under PSA

Omar Abdullah demands Mufti's release

On February 6, 2020, UT administration slapped the stringent Public Safety Act against Mufti and Omar, a day before their detention was supposed to end. While Farooq and Omar were released in March, Mehbooba continues to remain detained. Minutes after the news about the shifting of Mufti came, Omar Abdullah in a tweet demanded that PDP president Mehbooba Mufti be set free, saying merely shifting her home while keeping her under detention was a cop-out.

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Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference (JKPC) chief spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu said the continued detention of Mehbooba, JKPC chairman Sajad Lone who is under house arrest and other mainstream politicians was "authoritarian". "The continued detention of @JKPC_ Chairman @sajadlone and @jkpdp President @MehboobaMufti and a number of senior mainstream leaders is authoritarian. They've been under detention for more than 8 months now- not allowed access to the media, to their colleagues and their relatives," he tweeted.

READ | Omar Abdullah And Mehbooba Mufti Exchange Pleasantries, One Ex-CM Demands Other's Release