Kashmir journalist arrested hours after getting released from five-year detention   

Kashmiri journalist Asif Sultan was arrested again on February 29, days after he was released from Uttar Pradesh prison after remaining incarcerated for more than five years for helping militants.

According to local media reports, Srinagar police arrested Sultan from his residence in an old case.

"Sultan was rearrested late Thursday night," police officials told PTI news agency.

Though no official statement has been made, Indian Express citing sources reported that Sultan was arrested in a 2019 case over an agitation of inmates inside the Srinagar Central Jail.

He was first arrested in an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act case in September 2018 when he was working as a reporter with a local magazine.

The journalist was arrested for "allegedly providing logistical support to a banned militant group." In April 2022, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court granted him bail in the case on the grounds that investigative agencies “failed to establish his links with any militant group”. However, days later he was booked under the PSA.

He was released from Ambedkar Nagar district jail in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday and reached home on Thursday.

However, the family's joy was short-lived as he was taken into custody in another case the same night he returned home, the officials said.

(With PTI inputs)