Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti claimed Friday that was not allowed to meet the family of Waheed Para, the leader of the youth wing of her party PDP, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier this week in a militancy-related case.
Mufti claimed in a series of tweets that she had been illegally detained at her Gupkar Road residence, but the Jammu and Kashmir Police maintained that the PDP chief was requested to postpone her visit to Pulwama due to security reasons.
Their cruelty knows no bounds. Waheed was arrested on baseless charges & I am not allowed to even console his family. Even my daughter Iltija has been placed under house arrest because she also wanted to visit Waheed’s family.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) November 27, 2020
After the first batch of tweets regarding her “detention”, Mufti announced she would hold a press conference at her residence, but the J&K Police did not allow journalists to enter the house, the way to which was blocked by a CRPF vehicle. The journalists were then also asked to clear the area, and their access to Gupkar Road was blocked. Other persons were allowed to pass only after police questioning.
All this has happened on the eve of the first District Development Council (DDC) elections in J&K, which are scheduled to begin Saturday and last until 22 December.
We are one day away from DDC polling & its evident that the admin here is using fear & intimidation in tandem to muffle any form of opposition.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) November 27, 2020
Waheed Para, the PDP’s youth president and a close aide of Mehbooba Mufti, was arrested by the NIA in connection with its probe into the alleged links between J&K Police officer Davinder Singh and Hizbul Mujahideen militants. Singh was caught allegedly ferrying militant commander Naveed Babu earlier this year.
Para, who spent more than six months in detention last year as part of the administration’s crackdown on local politicians, was arrested on the basis of the same FIR.
Also read: PDP youth leader arrested by NIA for ‘links’ with cop under militancy lens, party cries foul
Police-SSG correspondence
When Mehbooba Mufti claimed in a Friday morning tweet that she had been “detained illegally” again while attempting to go and meet Para’s family in Pulwama, she also shared government documents from Pulwama district police and the directorate of the Special Security Group (SSG), which protects dignitaries.
The first document was a communication by the Pulwama district police to the SSG asking the unit to request Mehbooba Mufti to delay her “tour programme” as “neither anti-sabotage check nor proper route sanitisation can be done” as the “entire manpower is committed for other election related/operation duty”.
A senior police officer said these are important protocols to be followed by the force during tours of SSG protectees. Asked if Mehbooba Mufti was indeed detained, as she claimed, the officer added: “There is no order asking her to be detained. That is simply untrue.”
The J&K Police’s official Twitter handle reiterated this.
PDP leader Ms Mehbooba Mufti is not under house arrest. She was requested to #postpone her visit to #Pulwama purely due to #security reasons. @JmuKmrPolice
— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) November 27, 2020
But another former J&K CM, Omar Abdullah of the National Conference, which has tied up with the PDP and other parties of the Valley under the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration umbrella, tweeted in Mufti’s support.
“Parking a truck in front of our gates is now standard operating procedure for this admin. They did the same to my father (another former CM and Srinagar MP Farooq Abdullah) recently to stop him from praying. Personal liberty is treated as a favour by the govt, to give & withdraw at will, with no interference from the judiciary,” Abdullah said.
Parking a truck in front of our gates is now standard operating procedure for this admin. They did the same to my father recently to stop him from praying. Personal liberty is treated as a favour by the govt, to give & withdraw at will, with no interference from the judiciary. https://t.co/yUjDhhZb9p
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) November 27, 2020
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