Kashmir separatist leader Masrat Alam arrested

Jammu:  Outside Kot Bhalwal Jail, Separatist leader Masrat Alam was re-arrested. He was released on the Jammu and Kashmir High Court quashing his detention under Public Safety Act (PSA).

“Masrat Alam was re-arrested late last evening outside Kot Bhalwal Jail,” a senior police officer told IANS on Wednesday.

Alam was earlier released from the jail after his detention under PSA was quashed by a single-judge bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court headed by Justice M.H. Attar.

Alam was arrested under the PSA on April 17 in Srinagar after he organised and led a separatist rally to receive senior hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Pakistani flags were waived at the rally, following which Mufti Muhammad Sayeed-led government came under severe public criticism for releasing Alam from detention within days of the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party ruling coalition taking office in Jammu and Kashmir.

This is the second time Alam has been re-arrested despite the state high court quashing his detention.

In August, Justice Hasnain Masoodi quashed Alam’s detention under the PSA, but authorities re-arrested him immediately after complying with the court order.