Srinagar, Apr 07 (KNO): From 1989 to 1996, the Fairview Guest House on posh Gupkar road was used as interrogation-cum-detention center by the paramilitary Border Security Forces (BSF). The history repeated itself on Tuesday when it was again declared as “subsidiary jail” for lodging for former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti who is in detention for the past eight months.
As per wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the government today declared the Fairview Guest House- where Muftis are living since 2005-as subsidiary jail to change the place of detention of Mehbooba Muft who was arrested on August along with other mainstream leaders of Kashmir.
Before the outbreak of armed conflict, the colonial mansion on banks of Dal Lake was government guest house to accommodate visiting bureaucrats.
After being occupied by the Border Security Force in 1989-90, it was known as “Papa II " and was used as interrogation-cum-detention center.
It was christened as “Papa II” by BSF and intelligence agencies to keep the compound’s new purpose confidential.
As per KNO, like other notorious interrogation centers in Kashmir, the PAPA-II was shut by United Front government following Supreme Court judgment in D.K. Basu vs West Bengal case in 1996. After BSF vacated the house, Ashok Jaitely, the Chief Secretary of the State, moved into it. In 2003, it was renovated and then finance minister Muzaffer Hussain Baig moved in. Since 2005, Mufti family has been staying in the house—(KNO)