'Farooq Abdullah is a free man again'

Srinagar : "Today I am free …I am free," Farooq Abdullah, the National Conference (NC) president, told waiting media persons from the terraced courtyard of his Gupkar Road residence on Friday shortly after he was released from his detention.

He appeared in a long black coat along with her daughter Safia, they looked calm despite the fact that they were interacting with the media after a long duration of seven months.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration’s order to revoke the Public Safety Act, under which he was held, came as a surprise to many.

As the journalists were seen rushing towards his residence, both the public and police were surprised to see the sudden movement.

"We were not aware of the revocation of his detention order. Had we known it beforehand, we would have reached even before the media persons and not allowed them to come so close to the residence," said a police officer while pushing back the journalists to the other side of Gupkar Road.

The journalists waited for almost an hour before the NC leader came out to greet them.

Safia tweeted “My father is a free man again”, but kept waiting for the “magistrate to open the seal on the locks”, as her Twitter timeline got flooded with congratulatory messages.