Religious preacher Sarjan Barkati who was arrested during civil unrest in the aftermath of killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani has been released from detention after four years, his family said on Wednesday.
Barkati’s wife, Shabroza told Greater Kashmir that he had been released from Heerpora police station Shopian on Wednesday evening. “For the last three months he was lodged in Heerpora police station,” she added.
Barkati was arrested in 2016 from Wanpoh area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district and subsequently booked under Public Safety Act for organising anti-government rallies.
The cleric had earned the sobriquets like “pied piper of Kashmir” during 2016 agitation for his peculiar method of sloganeering that attracted large crowds. He came under the police radar after videos of his sloganeering and speeches went viral on social media.