Mehbooba Mufti Not Under House Arrest: Jammu And Kashmir Police Issues Clarification

The J&K Police clarified that Mehbooba Mufti was on her way to Press Colony in Srinagar to participate in a protest but was not allowed to move towards the site due to security reasons.

Srinagar: Soon after news reports surfaced that Mehbooba Mufti has been placed under house arrest till further order, the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday night clarified that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief has not been placed under house arrest. “PDP president Mehbooba Mufti was on the way to Press Colony in Srinagar to participate in a protest but police did now allow her to move towards the site due to security reasons. She is not under house arrest,” a senior J&K Police officer told news agency ANI.

Earlier, media reports suggested that Mufti was put under house arrest at her residence in Srinagar. The reports come at a time when her brother Tassaduq Hussain Mufti has been asked to appear before the ED in an alleged money laundering case.

#UPDATE | PDP president Mehbooba Mufti was on the way to Press Colony in Srinagar to participate in a protest but police did now allow her to move towards the site due to security reasons. She is not under house arrest: Senior J&K Police officer pic.twitter.com/EsNBdaFWFi

— ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2021

Earlier in the day, the PDP chief held a protest and demanded handing over of bodies of the civilians who were killed by security forces. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said since the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has been in force, there has been no accountability for the killings of innocents.

Along with party activists and leaders, Mehbooba staged a protest against these killings outside the party’s Gandhi Nagar headquarters and was seen holding a placard that read “Stop killing us, probe Hyderpora killings, end impunity and handover bodies to families”.

During the protest, the PDP chief said the families of the slain civilians are holding protests in Srinagar and demanding handover of their bodies.

The development comes at a time four people, including two civilians, were killed in a gunfight by security forces on Monday evening during an anti-terror operation.

“This cruel government is not even handing over the bodies after killing people. They (BJP) want to convert this nation of Gandhi, Nehru, and Ambedkar into a country of Godse. What else can I say,” the PDP leader said.

She added that whenever anybody gets killed in their firing, they dub him an Over Ground worker, and that is wrong.

Referring to a previous incident of fake encounter in which three youths were killed, she said the security agencies made the claim of having digital evidence even then, but the reality is that they have no evidence.