The family of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik, currently lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail, on Saturday said that he is ill and has been shifted to a hospital.
Family members said that when they had gone to meet Malik in Delhi earlier, authorities told them that he was on a hunger strike.
Malik was shifted to hospital by authorities after he remained on hunger strike for 12 days, they said.
Markets in the Maisuma area here - where Malik hails from - closed spontaneously on Saturday after news about Malik's illness spread.
In custody since February, Malik was arrested by the National Investigation Agency on April 9 and brought to Delhi, where a court on April 10 sent him to the agency's custody till April 22 after it sought his custodial interrogation in connection with a case related to alleged funding of separatists and militant groups in Jammu and Kashmir.
--IANS
sq/vd
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content