National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said he hoped the government would release politicians detained in Jammu and Kashmir, including PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, as it was cruel to continue their detention with the country entering a three-week lockdown period.

Mufti, Naeem Akhtar, Ali Mohammad Sagar, Peer Mansoor and Shah Faesal are some of the known faces who continue to be detained under the Public Safety Act, which was slapped on them during their preventive detention in the wake of the revocation of the erstwhile state's special status under Article 370 in August last year.

'It's callous & cruel to continue to detain @MehboobaMufti & others at a time like this. There was never much justification to detain everyone in the 1st place & none at all to keep them detained as the country enters a 3 week lockdown. I hope @PMOIndia & @HMOIndia will release them,' Abdullah said in a tweet.

Abdullah, who was detained on August 5 last year, was released on Tuesday after charges under the Public Safety Act (PSA), slapped on him in February, were revoked.