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Updated: Mar 07, 2019 13:47 IST

Yasin Malik, the chairperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), has been booked under the stringent public safety act (PSA) and is being shifted to a jail in Jammu.

Malik was arrested on February 22 and kept at the Kothibagh police station in Srinagar. However, he was informed by police on Wednesday evening that he is being shifted to Jammu’s Kotbalwal jail.

JKLF’s spokesperson confirmed Malik was booked under PSA, which allows for people to be held for up to two years without judicial intervention, and will be taken to Kotbalwal jail.

“We condemn this arbitrary arrest and use of PSA against a political leader,’’ the spokesperson said.

Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, another important leader of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), also criticised the government action on Malik.

“Strongly condemn slapping of draconian PSA and shifting to #KotBalwalJail Jammu of #YasinMalik & others by the authorities. These illegal & undemocratic tactics will not stop people & leadership from demanding peaceful resolution of #Kashmir Dispute in accordance with people’s will,’’ the Mirwaiz tweeted.

A strike was observed in Maisuma and adjoining areas after people came to know that Malik was being shifted to Kotbalwal jail.

More than 500 separatists leaders and workers, especially those belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami, have been arrested from different parts of the Valley since last two weeks. The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) imposed a ban on the J-K chapter of the Jamaat-e-Islami last Thursday for allegedly indulging in activities “prejudicial to internal security and public order”.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday held a rally in south Kashmir to protest the Centre’s ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami after the February 14 Pulwama terror attack.

Mufti also accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre of interfering in the religious affairs of Muslims by arresting their religious leaders.