Day after separatist Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai’s death, J&K Prisons DG shifted

The Jammu and Kashmir administration Thursday carried out a reshuffle at the top rung of police administration, shifting nine senior IPS officers including Director-General of Prisons V K Singh who was appointed Commandant General of the Home Guards, Civil Defence and the State Disaster Response Force.

The post of Commandant General of HG/CD/SDRF is declared equivalent in rank and status to that of DG till the time it is held by V K Singh, read an order issued by the Home Department.

Though the order indicated that the reshuffle was carried because of the promotion of several police officers to the grade of DG and ADG, Singh’s shifting from his old post came a day after 77-year-old Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai, a prominent Hurriyat leader and chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, died in detention in Jammu.

The separatist Kashmiri leader was detained under the Public Safety Act and he was shifted to Jammu hospital from Udhampur jail on Tuesday evening. According to government officials, he tested positive for Covid-19 posthumously.

His death was widely condoled by both mainstream and separatist politicians across the UT, who called him an honest politician.

Sehrai’s son Mujahid Sehrai had accused the administration of delaying his treatment. Mujahid said: “During our phone calls in the past, he had said that was not getting proper treatment.”