Kashmiri separatist leader Masarat Alam re-arrested

Jammu, Sep 1: Hardline Kashmiri separatist leader Masarat Alam was Tuesday re-arrested by police in Jammu jail premises after authorities released him following the Jammu and Kashmir High Court's order.

His Jammu and Kashmir Muslim League condemned his re-arrest and alleged he was taken to some unknown destination.

"After Jammu jail authorities freed Masarat Alam following the court orders, a police party however, rearrested him and took him away to some unknown destination," said a party spokesman.

Alam, who was arrested on April 17 for waving Pakistani flags in a separatist rally in Srinagar, was shifted to Jammu province's Kot Balwal jail after being booked under Public Safety Act (PSA) on April 23.

His detention order was quashed by the high court on August 21 on a petition seeking his release.

Alam, who is considered to be a close aide of senior separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, spearheaded the 2010 summer agitation in Kashmir valley.

A huge controversy had erupted after Mufti Muhammad Sayeed government released Alam on March 9 this year, just days after taking reins of the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government in the state.