The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Thursday alleged that its senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh had been illegally detained in Srinagar’s Doda along with other party members, including former Delhi minister Imran Hussain.
Speaking to The Indian Express over the phone, Singh said he had been detained prior to addressing a press conference over the arrest of Mehraj Malik, the AAP’s lone MLA in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, who was detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) earlier this week.
“They (police personnel) are just standing like Gandhi ji’s monkeys, and not answering when we ask why we have been placed under house arrest. What can they say anyway? You should ask their bosses who have asked them to do this,” he said.
“As required, we had intimated them about the dharna and the press conference which I was scheduled to address well in advance, but still this has been done,” he also said, adding that the government guest house where he and several local AAP leaders had been placed under lock and key had been “turned into a police camp.”
The AAP leader also posted about the issue on X.
“Dictatorship is at its peak. I am in Srinagar at this moment. Raising our voice for our rights and protesting in a democracy is our constitutional right. Today, there was a press conference and sit-in in Srinagar against the illegal arrest of @MehrajMalikAAP, but the government guest house has been turned into a police camp. I am not being allowed to leave the guest house with @ImranHussaain and companions,” said Singh in a post loosely translated from Hindi.
तानाशाही चरम पर है मैं इस वक़्त श्रीनगर में हूँ।
लोकतंत्र में हक़ के लिए आवाज़ उठाना आंदोलन करना हमारा संवैधानिक अधिकार है।
आज @MehrajMalikAAP की अवैध गिरफ़्तारी के ख़िलाफ़ श्रीनगर में प्रेस कांफ्रेंस और धरना था लेकिन सरकारी गेस्ट हाउस को पुलिस छावनी बना दिया गया है।
मुझे… pic.twitter.com/0rVDXht6UB— Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) September 11, 2025
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of resorting to “thuggery” when it came to the treatment of Opposition leaders, AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal questioned why former J-K chief minister Farooq Abdullah was not allowed to meet Singh.
“…Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Dr. Farooq Abdullah Ji, arrived at the guest house to meet our MP @SanjayAzadSln, but the police did not even let them meet. Sanjay Ji is under house arrest. The voice of the people is being suppressed, opposition leaders are being imprisoned”.
Story continues below this ad
Singh’s detention also drew support from other Opposition leaders, such as Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut. “Sanjay Singh is an MP, a senior leader! Putting him under house arrest in Jammu Kashmir means crossing all limits of dictatorship! Everything is not okay in Jammu Kashmir! Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was also put under house arrest in Kashmir, have the BJP people forgotten? Jai Hind!” said Raut.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Kumar Jha said arresting any public representative without charges was not law but “a repressive strike on democracy”.
