Shutdown in Kashmir over separatist leader Masarat Alam's arrest

April 25, 2015 12:44

Separatist leaders in Kashmir have called a shutdown in the Valley on Saturday to protest against the detention of hardliner Masarat Alam Bhat under the Public Safety Act.

Under PSA, Masarat Alam, who was released from jail only last month, could be kept in detention for two years without any trial.

His release by the new PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir had triggered a huge controversy.

Alam, who was released from jail in March after spending more than four years in jail under PSA, was arrested on April 17 on charges of waging war against the country and sedition after he hoisted a Pakistani flag and chanted anti-national slogans during a rally organised for hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

He was earlier this week again booked under the stringent PSA and quickly moved out of the Valley to Kotbhalwal Jail in Jammu.

The 45-year-old hardliner had been remanded to a seven-day police custody after his arrest.

Police had registered a case against Bhat, Geelani and several other separatist leaders under Sections 121-A (waging war against the country), 124 (Sedition), 120-B (Criminal Conspiracy), 147 (rioting) of Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) among others. Alam is the only one to have been arrested so far in the matter.

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