Srinagar: J&K Police on Saturday evening ended the day-long house arrest of three former Chief Ministers - the National Conference's Farooq and Omar Abdullah, and the PDP's Mehbooba Mufti - meant to stop them from leading a protest against the delimitation commission.
The high-security Gupkar Road area in Srinagar - which is where all three live - was sealed for the day with trucks parked outside their houses to stop them, or anyone else from leaving or entering.
Headed by Farooq Abdullah, the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) had planned a protest against the draft delimitation proposal, which allots six seats for Jammu and just one for the Kashmir Valley, which runs contrary to the population ratio of both provinces of the former state.
Political parties in J&K have allege gerrymandering to favour the BJP in Jammu, and have denounced the commission for an attempt to turn J&K's demographic majority into a political minority.
The commission justified its draft by saying considerations other than population - such as administrative units, area and proximity to the border - had been factored in while allotting seats.
Earlier today Omar Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah's son, tweeted to show how access to the homes of his father and sisters, as well as his own, had been blocked.
"Trucks parked outside our gates to scuttle the peaceful J&K PAGD sit-in protest. Some things never change," he said, prefacing his tweet with a sarcastic "Good morning and welcome to 2022."
Through the day supporters of the Abdullah's National Conference and Ms Mufti's PDP held protests to demand their leaders' release and for Article 370 to be restored. The tried to march towards Gupkar Road but were stopped from doing so by the police.