The BJP on Monday asked Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to re-arrest hardline separatist leader Masarat Alam, who was released last weekend triggering resentment from mainstream parties against the ruling PDP. The BJP asked the Chief Minister, who holds the Home portfolio, to reopen cases against Alam to chargesheet him again, besides taking cognisance of his recent anti-national statements.
While a group of BJP legislators handed over a memorandum to Mufti at Jammu for Alam’s re-arrest, hundreds of people visited Masarat’s residence in old Srinagar as separatists began demanding release of other detained leaders and workers. The BJP’s chief spokesman in Jammu & Kashmir, Sunil Sethi, told reporters that a delegation of party legislators called upon the Chief Minister and asked him to re-arrest Alam under Public Safety Act in view of his conduct after the release. They said his freedom would be detrimental to the security of the State.