Hundreds of people were detained in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit and many of them were charged under th...
Hundreds of people were detained in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit and many of them were charged under the Public Safety Act, according to media reports.
The Hindu reported on Friday that around 700 people were detained in the Union Territory, while The Indian Express put the number of detentions at 900 in its report published on Sunday.
Shah arrived for a three-day visit in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. Security was tightened in the Union Territory in preparation of his visit, with drones and motorboats of the Central Reserve Police Force used to secure operation.
Among those detained were identified by authorities as stone-pelters or relatives of militants, according to The Indian Express. Many of those detained were also charged under the Public Safety Act.
Under the Act, individuals can be detained without trials for up to two years if they are charged with being a threat to national security, or up to one year if they are booked for the “maintenance of law and order”.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti criticised the action. “Many [were] shifted to jails outside Kashmir,” she tweeted on Saturday. “ Such oppressive steps further vitiate an already tense atmosphere. ‘Normalcy acrobatics’ are in full swing while reality is denied and obfuscated.”
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