Detained under PSA, Farooq Abdullah nominated on key defence panel
New Delhi: Detained under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) after being accused of having "tremendous potential to create public disorder", former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah has been included in a 21-member consultative committee on defence.
The name of the 81-year-old National Conference leader, in detention at his Srinagar home for over 100 days, tops the list of members of the panel headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
The committee's other members include former defence minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, according to a notification issued by Parliamentary Affairs Ministry. Also in the list is controversial BJP MP Pragya Thakur, whose inclusion has been slammed by the Congress party.
Abdullah was detained on August 5, hours before the Union government scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two union territories.
His son and former chief minister Omar Abdullah and another ex-chief minister Mehbooba mufti were also detained along with more than 5,000 others across the state. Abdullah was slapped with the stringent PSA on September 17 on the eve of a Supreme Court hearing on a habeas corpus pertaining to his detention filed by MDMK leader Vaiko.
The National Conference chief and three-term chief minister has been booked under the 'public order' provision of the PSA under which a person can be kept in jail from three-six months without a trial.
Abdullah, the PSA order stated, "has tremendous potential for creating an environment of public disorder within the district (Srinagar) and other parts of the Valley".
It also accuses him of being a person seen as fanning the emotions of general masses against the country.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
