Ex-militant among 3 detained under PSA

Three persons, including a former militant, were detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on Tuesday, police said. Khurshid Ahmad Lone, who had surrendered as a militant of the erstwhile Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI); Tanveer Ahmad Gin, an active overground worker of the Hizbul Mujahideen and allegedly involved in hawala transactions; and a suspected drug peddler, Farooq Ahmad, were detained under the PSA, an officer said.

The PSA allows detention without charge or trial for up to two years in some cases. "The detention of the accused under the PSA was the need of the hour as they were becoming a threat to the peaceful atmosphere in the district," the officer said.

All the accused have been lodged in the Kathua district jail of Jammu region, the officer added.