Srinagar, Aug 16: Iltija Mufti, the daughter of former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, has said in an open letter that Kashmir has been engulfed in "clouds of darkness" ever since the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir was abrogated and feared for the safety of Kashmiris.

In the open letter purportedly written by Iltija, she said that she was also detained despite being a law-abiding citizen and hope that she was not punished for raising questions about her fundamental rights.

"Kashmir is engulfed in clouds of darkness and I fear for the safety of its people including those who spoke up. We Kashmiris are reeling in despair since the unilateral abrogation of Article 370 on 5 August, 2019," she said.

Iltija said that her mother Mehbooba was detained, along with scores of other elected representatives, the very same day and it has been over 10 "long agonising days since this crippling curfew was imposed".

"The valley is gripped with fear because all forms of communication have been snapped thereby debilitating an entire population. Today while the rest of the country celebrates India's Independence Day, Kashmiris have been caged like animals & deprived of basic human rights," she said in the letter addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Iltija, however, said in the letter that she could not post the letter as the postal service was not functioning in the Kashmir Valley.

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Dhar (MP) (PTI): A 25-year-old woman and her lover have been arrested in the district for allegedly conspiring to kill her husband by hiring a contract killer, police said on Thursday.

The case was solved within 36 hours of the murder though the woman initially tried to mislead the police by claiming that robbers killed her husband, an official said.

Dev Krishna Purohit (28) was stabbed to death on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday at his house in Gondikheda Charan village, about 60 km from here. 

Superintendent of Police Mayank Awasthi told reporters that accused Priyanka Purohit (25) was married to Dev Krishna when she was around 15 years old. Priyanka moved to her matrimonial home after attaining adulthood but was unwilling to live with her husband, leading to frequent disputes between them. 

During investigation, it emerged that she was in a relationship with Kamlesh (32), the SP said. 

The duo allegedly hatched a plan to kill Dev Krishna and hired a man identified as Surendra for Rs 1 lakh do the job, he said

After Dev Krishna was killed, Priyanka told police that unidentified persons broke into the house, attacked her husband with a sharp weapon while holding her captive in another room, and fled with valuables. 

But the inconsistencies in her statements raised suspicion, and eventually she confessed to hatching the murder conspiracy, the SP said.

While she and Kamlesh were arrested, police are looking for the contract killer, the official added.