Masarat rearrested, sent to 3-day police custody

Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, January 19

Hurriyat leader and Muslim League head Masarat Alam was today remanded in three-day police custody after he was rearrested by the J&K Police in a case dating back to 2010.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Court of City Magistrate, Srinagar, had granted bail in favour of Masarat in a case under FIR No 59/2010 registered against him in Harwan police station on the outskirts of Srinagar.

Subsequently, he was shifted from Baramulla jail, where he was lodged in connection with the 2010 FIR. Instead of releasing him, the police today produced him before a court in Srinagar, seeking his custody in a case under FIR 128/2010, which has been shown to be registered against him at Sadder police station, Masarat’s lawyer told The Tribune.

“Granting the plea, the court of 2nd Munsif sent Masarat Alam to three-day police remand today,” the lawyer said, adding that since the 2010 summer unrest, the police had filed 40 FIRs against the separatist leader at different police stations across Kashmir.

Masarat was accused of orchestrating violent anti-India protests in the Valley after “three civilians” were killed in Army firing near the border in early 2010. The Army had claimed that they were Pakistani infiltrators.

Masarat was booked under the Public Safety Act following the 2010 unrest that left over 100 people dead in the Kashmir valley. He was released in early 2016 for a brief period and then rearrested. On December 27, 2016, the J&K High Court had ordered the release of the separatist leader. The separatist was not released but shifted from Jammu to Srinagar and taken into custody in the 2010 FIR in which he was granted bail by the court on January 19.