NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday refused to share any timeline for the release of political detainees in Jammu and Kashmir, but informed that 617 people were detained in jails across India.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed Parliament that of the 617 detainees, as many as 261 are lodged in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, while 356 are detained in J&K.
According to the MHA records, 41 prisoners were sent outside J&K and lodged in Haryana only once (2018) in the past five years. There were no such instances of sending such detainees to other states in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
It was reported that prisoners were shifted outside J&K around August 5 when the J&K’s special status was revoked but the number of such instances never came out.
Replying to questions on political detention, Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy told the Rajya Sabha that 3,248 inmates are lodged in J&K jails and the total number of prisoners belonging to Jammu and Kashmir, within the state as well as outside, is 3,509. These prisoners include convicts, undertrials and those detained after August 5.
Reddy said, 5,161 people, including politicians, activists and stone pelters, were taken into preventive custody since August 4 to prevent the breach of peace, activities prejudicial to the security of the state and maintenance of public order.
The minister said separatist organizations and activists linked to Hurriyat Conference are behind stone-pelting incidents in Kashmir Valley. “Investigation revealed that various separatist organisations and activists, which are part of Hurriyat, have been behind the incidents of stone-pelting. NIA has chargesheeted 18 persons in terror funding cases,” he said.