Asif Sultan, a Kashmiri journalist, was apprehended on Thursday night, just two days after regaining his freedom from a five-year incarceration. He was taken into custody in connection with a complaint filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act by state authorities in Kashmir five years ago.
"Sultan was rearrested late Thursday night," stated officials.
On Tuesday, Sultan was released from the Ambedkar Nagar district jail in Uttar Pradesh, more than two years after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court overturned his imprisonment, citing procedural violations in his case.
Despite the court's decision and directives, Sultan had not been released due to pending "clearance letters" from J&K's home department and the Srinagar district magistrate.
However, his reunion with family following his release was short-lived, as he was summoned to Srinagar's Rainawari police station on Thursday evening and subsequently detained under a complaint filed by the Nowhatta police station, according to recent reports.
A Srinagar-based lawyer informed the media that "the family has now filed a bail plea to secure his release."
Sultan was previously re-arrested under the preventative detention statute in April 2022, just days after being granted release in another case where he had been held since August 2018, accused of "allegedly harbouring terrorists."
On April 5, 2022, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court granted him bail, citing the investigative agencies' "inability to prove his association with any militant group."
On December 11, the same court overturned Sultan's imprisonment under the Public Safety Act, asserting that the authorities did not adhere to the rules and procedures while holding him.
The Public Safety Act empowers authorities to detain individuals "without trial for up to two years on grounds of national security" and up to a year to "preserve public order."
In the December ruling, Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul noted that the authorities seemed to have considered the case against Sultan under the "anti-terror statute while holding him under the Public Safety Act." However, essential documents like the FIR or statements recorded under Section 161 of the criminal procedure were not provided to him.
Follow us
