New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: Mainstream political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir were detained prior to the day when the central government revoked Article 370 from the Valley, stripping off its special status and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories on August 5.
Now after three months of the preventive detention, the government has now planned to shift the detainees from the Centaur Hotel situated at Dal Lake in Srinagar. At least 31 mainstream political leaders from different regional parties, including National Conference (NC), People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Peoples Conference were under detention at the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC)-owned Hotel.
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“We are thinking of it and are looking for an alternate location,” a top official in the Jammu and Kashmir administration said as quoted by News18. The detainees can be shifted, either to the MLA Hostel, which is located near MA Road or to another hotel in the city, he added.
“We are unable to hold programmes at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) (which is adjacent to the hotel) because of the detainees in the hotel, which remains a sub-jail,” the official as quoted by News18.
Apart from conducting programmes, the hotel bills of the leaders have also become a concern for the authorities. The sources as reported by News18, said, that the hotel management has submitted a bill of Rs 2.65 crore to the Home Department for three months. However, the authorities said that the hotel will get paid as per the rates of government.
Officials said that the government was being charged Rs 5000 per detainee, but only Rs 800 will be sanctioned. The detainees who are put up at the hotel include People’s Conference head Sajad Lone, Ali Mohammad Sagar of the NC, Naeem Akhtar of the PDP and former IAS officer Shah Faesal.
The officials also said that they are trying to cost cut the expenses by keeping two people in one room and also the detainees are being served vegetarian food only for lunch and dinner, except one piece of chicken once a week.
Former CMs of J&K Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah were also under preventive detention. While Mufti has been in the tourism department hut at Chashma Shahi,Omar has been at the Nehru Guest House. Incumbent Lok Sabha member Farooq Abdullah has been lodged at his residence under Public Safety Act (PSA). The authorities also said that there is no plan of moving the top three leaders.