Former IAS officer Shah Faesal sent back to Kashmir, detained

Shah Faesal. Pic/AFP

Srinagar: Former IAS officer Shah Faesal on Wednesday was sent back to Kashmir from the Delhi airport and detained here under the Public Safety Act (PSA), officials said. Faesal, who was bound for Istanbul, was detained at the airport during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, they said. His purpose of visiting turkey was not immediacy known, they said.

The former bureaucrat from Jammu and Kashmir had floated a political outfit after resigning from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). After being detained at the Delhi airport, he was again detained under the PSA on his arrival in Srinagar, the officials said. Post the removal of special status to Jammu and Kashmir, provided under Article 370, Faesal had said Kashmir is experiencing an "unprecedented" lockdown and its eight million population "incarcerated" like never before.

He is among the last political leaders who have been placed under house arrest. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were detained after the Centre revoked the special status and announced that the state be bifurcated into the territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Faesal is the president of the J&K Peoples Movement party. The Jammu and Kashmir authorities last week airlifted a fresh batch of 20 "potential troublemakers" from Srinagar to Agra as a precautionary measure in the wake of constitutional changes made by the government. Among those airlifted include president of Kashmir High Court Bar Association Mian Qayoom.

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