Kashmiri separatist Masrat Alam re-arrested

Separatist leader Masrat Alam was re-arrested outside Kot Bhalwal Jail here late Tuesday evening after he was released on the Jammu and Kashmir High Court quashing his detention under Public Safety Act (PSA).

"Masrat Alam was re-arrested late last evening outside Kot Bhalwal Jail," a senior police officer told IANS on Wednesday.

Alam was earlier released from the jail after his detention under PSA was quashed by a single-judge bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court headed by Justice M.H. Attar.

Alam was arrested under the PSA on April 17 in Srinagar after he organised and led a separatist rally to receive senior hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Pakistani flags were waived at the rally, following which Mufti Muhammad Sayeed-led government came under severe public criticism for releasing Alam from detention within days of the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party ruling coalition taking office in Jammu and Kashmir.

This is the second time Alam has been re-arrested despite the state high court quashing his detention.

In August, Justice Hasnain Masoodi quashed Alam's detention under the PSA, but authorities re-arrested him immediately after complying with the court order.