Former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan was released by the Uttar Pradesh police on Saturday, 4 January, after being detained at the state border while he was on his way to speak at an event hosted by Aligarh Muslim University.

Gopinathan was headed to the university to speak at an event against the CAA, NPR and NRC, along with activist Kavitha Krishnan and others.

Gopinathan had made headlines in August last year for quitting the civil services over the Centre’s decision to scrap Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.