Former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti to be released after 14 months in detention. The People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief was detained alongside Dr Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah on August 5, 2019 when the Constitution's Articles 370 and 35A were abrogated and the state bifurcated and downgraded into two Union Territories.
The J&K government had on July 31 extended the detention of Mehbooba Mufti under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for three months. Farooq Abdullah & Omar Abdullah, former chief ministers, had been released earlier.
J&K Administration spokesperson Rohit Kansal confirmed the news via Twitter. Mufti will be addressing the media on October 16.
"In exercise of powers conferred under section 19(1) of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978, the Government hereby revokes the detention order bearing No. DMS / PSA / 147 / 2020 dated 05-02-2020 issued by District Magistrate, Srinagar, which was last extended for a period of three months vide Government Order No. Home / PB-V / 1449 of 2020 dated 31-07-2020 of Ms Mehbooba Mufti D/o Late Mufti Mohd Sayed R/o Bijbehara A/P Nowgam, Srinagar, with immediate effect," the official order read.
Confirming the release, Mufti's daughter Iltijia tweeted: "As Ms Mufti's illegal detention finally comes to an end, Id like to thank everybody who supported me in these tough times. I owe a debt of gratitude to you all. This is Iltija signing off. May allah protect you."
"I'm pleased to hear that Mehbooba Mufti Sahiba has been released after more than a year in detention. Her continued detention was a travesty & was against the basic tenets of democracy. Welcome out Mehbooba," Omar Abdullah tweeted.
