Srinagar: The detention of Hilal Ahmad Lone, son of National Conference Lok Sabha MP Mohammad Akbar Lone, and PDP leader Nayeem Akhtar under the Public Safety Act (PSA) was revoked on Thursday, officials said here.
“The detention of Nayeem Akhtar and Hilal Ahmad Lone under the PSA has been revoked by authorities concerned,” the officials said.
The revocation of their detention comes two days after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court quashed the PSA detention of NC general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar. The six-time former MLA was released on Wednesday from 10-month detention.
Akthar was among dozens of mainstream politicians taken into preventive custody last year, just before the Centre revoked special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divided the erstwhile state into two union territories on August 05, 2019.
Among others taken into custody were National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti — all former chief ministers.
After the revocation of PSA against Akhtar and Hilal Lone, now only politician detained under PSA is PDP president Mehbooba Mufti.
Akhtar was lodged at a house in the high-security Gupkar road while as Hilal Lone was detained at MLA hostel which had been turned into sub-jail.
Akhtar, a close confidant Mehbooba Mufti, after being arrested on August 05, 2019 was booked under PSA in mid-February this year. The police dossier against him stated that he was criticising Union Home Minister Amit Shah, advising people in Kashmir to read the autobiography of separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and condemning the central government’s decision to stop a youth from Pakistan-administrated-Kashmir from visiting his ailing grandmother in Poonch, besides several other charges.
In the PSA dossier on Hilal Lone, the Jammu & Kashmir government accused the 47-year-old of being a potential threat to peace on account of his association with a party whose manifesto “is to agitate against the abrogation of Article 370”.
“You being a probable MLA candidate of National Conference are a potential threat to public peace and tranquility as you belong to the party whose manifesto is to agitate against abrogation of Article 370, 35A of Constitution of Indian,” read the dossier.
The government also described Hilal Lone as a poster boy of the NC and said it will be easy for him to instigate people to agitate.
Officials said that soon after abrogation of special status of erstwhile J&K state, 177 politicians were detained. They said among the 177 politicians arrested in Kashmir, only one was from the BJP, while 71 were from the NC and 35 from the PDP.
While 19 politicians, he said, were from the Congress, 28 were from Shah Faesal’s Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM), 10 from Sajjad Gani Lone’s People’s Conference and eight from Awami Ittehad Party (AIP).
