PDP workers ‘detained’

Srinagar, May 25

Former CM and PDP candidate Mehbooba Mufti staged a protest against the alleged arrest of her workers and polling agents. She said her workers, many of whom were also her polling agents, were picked up from different places and detained. She accused the government and the police of “spreading terror” in the Anantnag area.

She compared today’s polls to the controversial 1987 elections, calling it an example of “tactical rigging”. She said the police’s action had discredited the election process.

Mufti also accused the L-G Manoj Sinha of playing a “nefarious role” in the arrests, saying if such actions were occurring under his watch, it couldn’t be assumed that they were happening without his approval.

“Claims were made by a political party that their workers have been detained. Firstly, detention are very few and restricted only to those who have tainted past and based on credible inputs of potential threats to law and order, and security on the polling day,” the Anantnag police said in a post on X. “Most of them are OGWs and are taken into preventive custody for ensuring a safe and peaceful election,” the police added.

However, the PDP chief said, “One of the arrested persons was Najmu Saqib, who is youth General Secretary of the party. It is sad to describe youths as OGWs.”