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Mehbooba, J&K Police engage in Twitter spat over her ‘house arrest’ claim
Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said that she wanted to visit Baramulla’s Pattan town to attend a wedding
Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and Jammu and Kashmir Police engaged in a war of words on Wednesday as she accused the police of putting her under house arrest while the latter claimed she was free to go.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief said that she wanted to visit Baramulla’s Pattan town to attend a wedding.
“While HM is going around Kashmir beating drums of normalcy, I am under house arrest for simply wanting to visit Pattan for a worker’s wedding. If an ex CM’s fundamental rights can be suspended so easily, one can’t even imagine the plight of a commoner,” she said in a tweet and tagged the home minister and Lt Governor Manoj Sinha.
She also put out pictures of the alleged locking of the door of the main gate of her house.
However, almost 40 minutes later, the Srinagar police tweeted that there were no restrictions on her travel to Pattan. The police even claimed that she herself had locked the gate from inside.
“It is clarified that no restriction of any kind (of) travel to Pattan, travel to Pattan at 1 pm as intimated to us. The picture tweeted by her is of inside of the gate with own lock of residents who stay in the bungalow. There is no lock or any restrictions. She is free to travel,” the police said in the tweet.
They also put out pictures of her gate with no locks from the outside.
This was quickly rebutted by Mehbooba who said the Baramulla SSP had informed her Tuesday night that she would not be allowed to travel. She claimed that the police were “now lying through their teeth”.
“I was informed last night by SP (SSP) Baramulla @bhatray that I wouldn’t be allowed to travel to Pattan. Today @JmuKmrPolice have themselves locked my gates from inside & are now lying through their teeth. Sad that law enforcement agencies are brazenly trying to cover up their tracks,” she said in another tweet.
However, around 4pm, she said in a tweet that she was able to leave her residence.
“Was finally to leave my residence what a relief (sic),” she said.
Mehbooba had spent over 14 months in detention along with several other top leaders of the state after the Centre had abrogated Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in August 2019.
Since then, she has accused police of putting her under house detention at a number of instances.
