Mehbooba put under ‘house arrest’ ahead of SC verdict on Article 370

Srinagar/Jammu, Dec 11 (PTI) People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti was put under house arrest on Monday ahead of the Supreme Court’s verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that conferred a special status on Jammu and Kashmir, her party claimed.

However, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said the news of house arrest or arrest of anyone ahead of the Supreme Court verdict on Article 370 is “totally baseless”.

“Even before Supreme Court judgement is pronounced, police has sealed the doors of the residence of PDP president @MehboobaMufti and put her under illegal house arrest,” the party said in a post on X.

Meanwhile, police did not allow journalists to gather near National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah and vice-president Omar Abdullah’s residence at Gupkar here, officials said.

A posse of police personnel was deployed at the entry point of Gupkar Road and journalists were not allowed anywhere near the residence of the NC leaders.
An NC leader said the main gate of the residence was locked by the police in the morning.

“Mr @OmarAbdullah has been locked up in his house. Democracy?” NC’s additional state spokesperson Sara Hayat Shah said in a post on X.

She also posted pictures of the locked gate of the Abdullah residence on the microblogging platform.

Omar Abdullah lives with his father after he vacated his official residence in October 2020.

While Farooq Abdullah, who is the Member of Parliament from Srinagar, is in Delhi for the ongoing Parliament session, his son is in the valley.