Kashmiri separatist leader Fai put under house arrest

Washington, Jul 27: Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai was ordered by a US court today (Jul 27) to be put under house arrest under electronic surveillance with radio tag to be installed on his knuckles.

Kashmir-born US citizen, Fai, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) last week on charges of working for the Government of Pakistan, in particular its spy agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), to lobby at the Capitol Hill and the Administration on Kashmir.

At his detention hearing, Magistrate Judge Rawles Jones at US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, ordered that Fai be released from prison on a personal bond of USD 100,000 and put under house arrest with electronic surveillance.

62-year-old Fai, headed the Kashmir American Council (KAC), which espoused the cause of Pakistan on Kashmir and campaigned against India in the US.

He has been asked to stay with his wife at the Fairfax residence in Virginia. Both he and his wife Chang Ning Ying Q, who is of Chinese origin, have been asked to surrender their passport.

Fai's attorney told reporters afterwards that he could be released from the prison. However, no timing has been set yet.

PTI