Srinagar: A senior lawyer and chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association (HCBA) has been arrested and booked under the Public Safety Act by J&K police following a midnight visit to his home in Srinagar, according to his family.
Nazir Ahmad Ronga was taken from his Srinagar residence without an arrest warrant by a J&K police team at approximately 1:30 AM on Thursday, according to his son, Umair Ronga.
Umair, who is also a lawyer, stated that the police official in charge of the operation informed the family that “it is an order from above.”
He later added that authorities communicated that the senior advocate was being detained under the PSA and would be held in Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu.
“My father, advocate N A Ronga, has just been arrested in a deeply disturbing turn of events. At 1.10 am, a contingent of J&K Police arrived at our home without any arrest warrant, merely stating, ‘It’s an order from above (uper se order hai)’. We are left in a state of shock and profound distress. We can only hope this is not another instance of the PSA being misused to intimidate the members of the Bar Association,”Umair posted on X.
Ronga’s detention follows the administration's decision to ban the HCBA election, scheduled for July 1, citing concerns over the association's constitution, which referred to "Kashmir as an issue to be settled." Subsequently, the body removed the term "Kashmir dispute" from its constitution on 9 July.