Separatist leader of Indian-controlled Kashmir arrested under controversial law

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Senior separatist leader and chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Mohammed Yasin Malik was arrested under a controversial preventive law, the Public Safety Act (PSA), in Indian-controlled Kashmir, his party spokesman said Thursday.

Malik was arrested in his residence in February and lodged at Kothi Bagh police station in Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"Today morning Malik was informed that he has been booked under PSA and will be shifted to Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu," the spokesman said. "He was arrested on Feb. 22 from his Maisuma residence."

Under PSA, authorities can imprison a person without trial for up to six months on suspicion of the possible threat to public order and security. The detention period can be extended indefinitely.

The JKLF "strongly condemned" the "arbitrary arrest" and use of PSA against a political leader, he said.

The spokesman termed slapping PSA on Malik as a "glaring display of frustration by New Delhi."

Recently Indian government banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) in the region, a socio-religious organization, after police arrested dozens of its activists and leaders besides its chief Hameed Fayaz.