Shah Faesal arrested in Delhi, sent back to Kashmir to be kept under house arrest

Kashmiri leader Shah Faesal, a former IAS officer, was stopped from flying out of the country at the International Indira Gandhi airport in Delhi and was sent off to Srinagar where he has been placed under preventive detention, confirmed a government official.

According to news reports, when Faesal reached the immigration desk around 1.30 am on Wednesday, he was informed that he had a look out notice against him. “The authorities stopped him from boarding a flight to Istanbul. He was on the way to Harvard Kennedy school in the US to complete his course,” said official.

A senior government official said that Faesal was flown to Srinagar where he has been held under “preventive detention”. The official clarified that he was not arrested under the Public Safety Act. He has been kept at Centaur Hotel in Srinagar.

Faesal, the president of the J&K Peoples Movement, was in Delhi for the last two days.

J&K Principal Secretary (Planning Commission) Rohit Kansal said, "Any detention or arrest is based on local assessment of law and order requirement and taken accordingly. We will not comment on individuals."

Post the removal of special status to Jammu and Kashmir, provided under Article 370, Faesal had said that the land, identity, and history was stolen from Kashmiris in broad daylight.

He was earlier placed in custody when the government moved to nullify Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5, along with several other mainstream Kashmiri politicians, including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.