Am still under house arrest: Saifuddin Soz

Former Union minister and Congress leader Saifuddin Soz on Friday claimed that he is still under home detention even as the Jammu & Kashmir government said that Soz is a free man and is not under any sort of detention.

In a statement, Soz said he went to see his ailing sister at Gulbarg Colony, Hyderpora, Srinagar on Friday. He said since the police would not allow him to travel without its vehicle, two Personal Security Officers (PSOs) accompanied him.

"When I returned home, the police produced and released a video showing that I was a free man. This version of the police is nothing more than a white lie," he said. "Meanwhile, I tried to go out of my premises at 12.35 pm today to see my daughter in the neighbourhood but the police did not allow me to go out."

On Thursday, government spokesperson Rohit Kansal in a tweet said that Soz is not under arrest or detention.

Soz however said that he wanted to confirm that he was under ‘house-arrest' and cannot go out.

"The government version that I am a free man is wrong. I do not know why the government has resorted to such underhand means," he said. "I have not violated any law of the land, yet I am under detention."

"My detention shows how civil liberties stand suppressed in Kashmir," he said.