Farooq Abdullah’s detention extended by 3 months

The detention of Farooq Abdullah, a three-term chief minister of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, was extended on Saturday by three months and he would continue to remain at his residence that has been declared a sub-jail, officials said here.

The case of Abdullah, also a five-term parliamentarian, was reviewed by the advisory board of the Home Department of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir which recommended extension of his detention under the PSA, they said.

His house, located at Gupkar Road, has been declared a sub-jail by the union territory's Home Department.

Eighty-two-year-old Abdullah, who became the first chief minister against whom the stringent public safety law was invoked, has a heart pacemaker implanted and had undergone a kidney transplant a few years ago.

Reacting to the move, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted, "Farooq Abdullah detention extended by three months under Public Safety Act...This is a very sad state of affairs. In our democratic country this is happening. These are unconstitutional steps."

Abdullah was among a host of leaders and activists who were detained on August 5 when the centre abrogated Article 370 and divided the state into two union territories -- Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.

The PSA has two sections -- 'public order' and 'threat to security of the state'. The former allows detention without trial for three to one year and the latter for two years.

The PSA is applicable only in Jammu and Kashmir. Elsewhere in the country, the equivalent law is the National Security Act (NSA).

Besides Abdullah, his son and former chief minister Omar and ex-CM Mehbooba Mufti, several other leaders have also been under detention since August 5.

An emotional Abdullah had told the media on August 6 that he was pained at the Centre's decision on Article 370.

The National Conference on Saturday termed "most unfortunate" and "undemocratic" the extension of party president Farooq Abdullah's detention by three months under the stringent Public Safety Act.

"It is the most unfortunate thing to happen," NC provincial president Devender Singh Rana told PTI.

"The imposition of PSA on Abdullah is itself a major setback to the mainstream politics of Jammu and Kashmir because he has always stood by the nation and its values," Rana said. He said the action is "undemocratic".