National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah has neither been detained nor arrested, Union minister Amit Shah said in Lok Saha today amid opposition demands for the release of Kashmir Valley's mainstream leaders who had been kept in confinement since Sunday evening. Farooq Abdullah, the 81-year-old patriarch of the National Conference, has not been present in the house since Monday, when the government announced that the special status of the state has ended and that it would be bifurcated into two union territories.

During the debate of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill in the Lok Sabha, Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule pointed out the veteran leader's absence, saying, "Farooq Abdullah sits next to me and today he is not there".

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who introduced the bill in the lower house, shot back, "He has neither been detained nor arrested. He is at home by his own will."

Earlier today, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "I have no information about Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti. I appeal to the government that they should not feel isolated. They are not terrorists. They should be released in the interest of the democratic institutions".

National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah has neither been detained nor arrested, Union minister Amit Shah said in Lok Saha today amid opposition demands for the release of Kashmir Valley's mainstream leaders who had been kept in confinement since Sunday evening. Farooq Abdullah, the 81-year-old patriarch of the National Conference, has not been present in the house since Monday, when the government announced that the special status of the state has ended and that it would be bifurcated into two union territories.

During the debate of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill in the Lok Sabha, Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule pointed out the veteran leader's absence, saying, "Farooq Abdullah sits next to me and today he is not there".

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who introduced the bill in the lower house, shot back, "He has neither been detained nor arrested. He is at home by his own will."

Earlier today, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "I have no information about Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti. I appeal to the government that they should not feel isolated. They are not terrorists. They should be released in the interest of the democratic institutions".