People's Conference chief Sajad Lone tweeted on Friday that he had been informed about his release from detention. Sajad Lone was among the senior political figures in Jammu and Kashmir who were detained by security forces following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year.
Sajad Lone tweeted, "Finally 5 days short of a year I have been officially informed that I am a free man. So much has changed. So have I. Jail was not a new experience. Earlier ones were harsh with usual doses of physical torture. But this was psychologically draining. Much to share hopefully soon."
An official order from the Jammu and Kashmir administration confirming Sajad Lone's release is expected. Sajad Lone is the latest ‘high-profile’ detainee in Kashmir to be released after National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah and his son, Omar Abdullah.
Sajad Lone was shifted to his official residence in Srinagar in February after spending months at the 'VIP' sub-jail at the Centaur Hotel on the banks of the Dal Lake in Srinagar.
His father, Abdul Gani Lone, former minister and founder of the PC, had joined the separatist Hurriyat Conference in 1993. Abdul Gani Lone was assassinated in 2002.
Sajad Lone had allied with the BJP and called Prime Minister Narendra Modi his 'elder brother' during the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir a year later.
He was inducted into the cabinet after the BJP and the PDP formed a coalition government.
In November 2018, Sajad Lone had staked claim to form the government by writing a letter to then governor S.P. Malik hours after PDP president Mehbooba Mufti had faxed a letter to Malik claiming support of the NC and Congress to form the government.
Malik, however, dissolved the Assembly, which lay in suspended animation after the BJP pulled out of the coalition government in June that year.
Sajad Lone had also opposed New Delhi’s moves to tamper with Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.