Srinagar: Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman, passed away on Wednesday at a hospital in Jammu where he was admitted yesterday after he had developed some health complications. He was 80.
Sehrai was taken to the Government Medical College in Jammu from Kot Bhalwal Jail in Udhampur where he was lodged since July last year. The Hurriyat leader was booked under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) last year. He was arrested from his residence in Srinagar by the Jammu and Kashmir police and lodged at the Udhampur jail.
Read: Jaishankar's help sought for return of Kashmiri students to Bangladesh
According to his family, they were informed on Tuesday about his health deterioration and told that he was being admitted at the GMC in Jammu. The family members were asked to visit Jammu. The family added that Sehrai had been unwell for the last couple of weeks and yet the administration kept him in jail.
Sehrai's son, who was a Hizbul Mujahideen commander, was killed in a gunfight in May, 2020.
As per the latest reports, the Hurriyat leader's body has not been handed over to the family yet and they are waiting in Jammu.
Ashraf Sehrai was the chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, a constituent of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, which was previously headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani.