Srinagar: Ghulam Jeelani Qadri, editor of 'Daily Afaaq', was released on Tuesday afternoon after he was arrested late Monday night.
He was arrested in a case that was registered in 1990 under section three of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act.
He was arrested on a non-bailable warrant issued by the then chief judicial magistrate on October 15, 1992.
The law under which Qadri has been arrested deals with intention to overawe the government as by law established or to strike terror in the people.
He was arrested from his residence in Balgarden area of the city.
"It was nearly midnight when police came to arrest Qadri sahib. No reasons were given before taking him away, a police officer asked him when is the election," a relative said.
Various journalist bodies, including the Kashmir Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), has condemned the midnight arrest of Qadri, alleging it seems the aim of the government's move was to muzzle the voice of the local press.
"Qadri was attending his office on a daily basis and there was absolutely no need for carrying out a midnight raid at his residence. The working journalists here are wondering about the timing of execution of the warrant which was issued 26 years ago," a spokesman of the KUWJ said.,
