Ghulam Nabi Azad detained at Srinagar airport, being sent back to Delhi

Congress MP and former Jammu and Kashmir CM Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kashmir Congress chief Gulam Ahmed Mir were detained at the Srinagar airport and are now being sent back to Delhi.

The two landed at the Srinagar airport on Thursday morning after taking a flight from Delhi and were immediately stopped at the airport.

Ghulam Nabi Azad will be sent back to Delhi on a Vistara flight at 3.30 pm.

According to sources, the two Congress leaders were stopped from entering Kashmir over security concerns and as a preventive measure.

Authorities are concerned that allowing political leaders to interact with Kashmiris may flare up tension in the region that is seeing an unprecedented lockdown.

Before leaving for Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi slammed National Security Advisor Ajit Doval over his video of interacting and eating with Kashmiris on the streets of Kashmir amid the ongoing lockdown.

Asked about the video, Ghulam Nabi said, "Paise dekar aap kisiko bhi saath le sakte ho (You can take anyone with you by giving them money)."

Kashmir is facing a lockdown since August 4, a day before the Centre passed a resolution to scrap Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Section 144 has been imposed in Kashmir amid additional troop deployment across the state. Jammu and Kashmir has been bifurcated into two Union Territories by the Modi government.

Kashmir faces a complete lockdown with zero communication facilities available to the locals. Over 500 people have been detained and arrested in Kashmir so far, including former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah.

National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah has been put under house arrest.

Activists across the political spectrum have been detained in Srinagar as well as other parts of the valley.

According to latest reports, about 560 such workers have been lodged in makeshift detention centres in Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre in Srinagar and other such centres in Baramulla and Gurez.

Amid the restrictions in place in the city, one person was killed in Noorbagh locality. A group of youngsters had gathered in the area and they were chased by CRPF personnel because of confusion over curfew, reported PTI.