Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah has been detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA), which enables authorities to detain any individual for two years without a trial, sources said on Monday.

The 81-year-old patron of the National Conference has been under house arrest since August 5 when the Centre announced abrogation of the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into Union territories. His residence was declared a subsidiary jail.

PSA was slapped on Abdullah on Sunday.

On Monday, the Supreme Court asked the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to respond to a plea seeking that the former chief minister be produced before a court.

The petition was filed by Tamil Nadu's MDMK leader Vaiko, seeking Abdullah's release so he could attend an event in Chennai.

Vaiko is said to be a close friend of Abdullah for four decades.

Following the Centre’s August 5 decision, thousands of additional troops were sent to the Valley, which is already one of the world's most militarized regions. Telephone communications, cellphone coverage, broadband internet and cable TV services were cut for the Valley's 7 million people, although some communications have been gradually restored.

On August 6, Union home minister Amit Shah denied to the lower house of Parliament that Abdullah had been detained or arrested.

'If he (Abdullah) does not want to come out of his house, he cannot be brought out at gunpoint,' Shah said, when other parliamentarians expressed concern over Abdullah's absence during the debate on Kashmir's status.

Many Kashmiri leaders, including former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, who is also Farooq Abdullah's son, are under detention in their residences and other makeshift facilities to contain protests against India's decisions, according to police officials.