India, Sept. 9 -- A political controversy erupted in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday over the arrest of the lone Aam Aadmi Party MLA Mehraj Malik under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) for allegedly disturbing public order in Doda district on Monday.

The opposition PDP has termed the arrest "a shameful surrender", accusing the assembly secretariat of endorsing the PSA against the first sitting legislator, while the secretariat issued an official communique in Jammu denying any role in the matter.

Malik, who is the first sitting MLA to have been put behind bars under the stringent preventive detention law, is also the president of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He was shifted to Kathua district jail on Monday ...