Ghulam Nabi Azad stopped at Srinagar airport
NEW DELHI: Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad was stopped at Srinagar airport today after he landed in the city, which has been on a security lockdown since midnight Sunday to head off trouble over the centre's big decisions to end special status under Article 370 and to split the state into two union territories.
Mr Azad, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, is attempting to enter Srinagar city and meet with Congress leaders. Reports suggest he may be sent back from the airport because of the massive restrictions still in place.
Around 400 people have been detained across the state, as "precaution", and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah remain in custody at safehouses.
"The people of Jammu and Kashmir are sad. I am going there to be a part of their sadness, to be with them," Mr Azad told reporters. "Probably for the first time, all 22 districts have seen a curfew. Have you heard of this before?"
He also implied that visuals on Wednesday showing National Security Adviser Ajit Doval chatting with Kashmiris in Srinagar and sharing a meal with them on the streets - seen to be an attempt to convey that the situation is returning to normal - were a set-up.
"You can pay anyone to get these done," Mr Azad said.
courtesy: ndtv.com
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Police arrested Kejriwal's aide at same time his anticipatory bail plea was being heard: Atishi
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Minister Atishi alleged on Saturday that the city police arrested Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar at the same time his anticipatory bail plea was being heard in court.
Kumar was arrested on Saturday in connection with the alleged assault on AAP Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal, officials said.
He was picked up from the chief minister's residence by a Delhi Police team around noon, a senior officer said.
Addressing a press conference, Atishi said Kumar had filed a plea for anticipatory bail before the Tis Hazari court.
Kumar was picked up for questioning by the Delhi Police around 11 am. As soon as he was taken for questioning, news channels started saying he had been arrested, she claimed.
"This shows the BJP's conspiracy. Their intention is to disturb our election campaign and Arvind Kejriwal," she said.
Atishi said the Tis Hazari court considered Kumar's matter urgent and agreed to hear his plea on Saturday itself.
"The court commenced hearing on his plea at 3:55 pm and within 20 minutes, the Delhi Police arrested him at the Civil Lines police station. As soon as his lawyers began arguments, the police learnt that their case is weak and Kumar would get relief. So they arrested Kumar," she claimed.
Atishi alleged that when the court was dictating its order on the matter at 4:55 pm, the Delhi Police lawyer appeared through videoconferencing and said Kumar had already been arrested.
Kumar's anticipatory bail plea has become "infructuous" as he has been arrested, the court observed.
The chief minister's aide, accused of assaulting Maliwal on May 13 at Kejriwal's residence, was arrested two days after an FIR was registered against him at the Civil Lines police station.
Additional Sessions Judge Sushil Anuj Tyagi, while dictating the order to the court staff on the anticipatory bail plea, noted that Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Kumar Srivastava appeared through videoconferencing around 4:45 pm and informed the court that Kumar had already been arrested.
Atishi said, "Even they knew that their case was weak and if the case was heard, Bibhav Kumar would get bail. That is why tomorrow (Sunday) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will lead all AAP leaders and to the BJP headquarters and court arrest."
Kejriwal said he and other AAP leaders would go to the BJP headquarters on Sunday "so that the prime minister can send anyone he wants to jail".
The BJP is saying they would send AAP MP Raghav Chadha and Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj to jail, he claimed at a press briefing, hours after Kumar was arrested.
