Malik was under detention in Srinagar since Feb 22. (File)Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik, who was under detention since February 22 and kept at the Kothibagh police station, was booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and shifted to Jammu’s Kotbalwal jail from Srinagar on Thursday.
The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) has called for a shutdown on Friday against the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, arrests of its activists, and the invocation of PSA against Malik.
A JKLF spokesperson said Malik was informed on Thursday morning that he has been booked under the PSA and is being shifted to Jammu. “JKLF strongly condemns this arbitrary arrest and use of PSA against a political leader. It is a glaring display of frustration by Indian rulers and their abettors in Jammu and Kashmir,” the spokesman said.
Police sources said that Malik left with a police team for Jammu by road.
JKLF members said Malik was last booked under the PSA in 2008. “He was then also shifted to Jammu jail. All these years, he has been detained and arrested by police several times but he was lodged in Srinagar jails only. Today, after a long time he has been shifted to Jammu jail,” said one of the JKLF members.
Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq condemned the move. “Strongly condemn slapping of draconian PSA and shifting to #KotBalwalJail Jammu of #YasinMalik & others by the authorities.These illegal & undemocratic tactics will not stop people & leadership from demanding peaceful resolution of #KashmirDispute in accordance with people’s will,” he tweeted.
A shutdown was observed in Srinagar’s Maisuma area, where Malik lives, in protest against the move. There were no clashes and the situation remained peaceful.
