Amid the fervent political and legislative developments in Jammu & Kashmir, several leaders of the state including former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were arrested on Monday, 5 August, news agency PTI reported, quoting officials.
People’s Conference leaders Sajjad Lone and Imran Ansari, are among the other prominent leaders who have been arrested.
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Some more arrests have been made, the officials said, without sharing details.
The arrests come hours after the Centre announced effectively revoked Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Besides, the Rajya Sabha also passed the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019 which proposes to bifurcate the state into two Union Territories – Jammu & Kashmir as one and Ladakh as the other.
Both Mufti and Abdullah were put under house arrest late on Sunday, ahead of the Centre’s move.
Following the Centre’s decision, Mufti tweeted saying that the people of Jammu and Kashmir felt ‘defeated’ and ‘betrayed’ at the move.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Sajjad Lone said, “It's one of the darkest days me or my ancestors have seen since 1957. I can’t believe that one fine day you get up and find that you have been robbed of your special status.
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