Jail was second home for Jamaat activist Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, 62, but when he was arrested one last time, days ahead of the August 5 scrapping of the erstwhile state’s special status, he had anticipated he was meeting his family for the last time.

Bhat, among hundreds arrested under the draconian Public Safety Act this year and shifted to jails outside the Valley, sounded prophetic as a meeting with the family never materialised all these months, the grim situation in Kashmir and the concern for the safety of his two sons preventing the family from even making any attempt to meet him.

The Jamaat activist died under mysterious circumstances at an Allahabad jail on Friday evening and was buried at his native Kulangam village in Handwara on Sunday evening. The killing has flared up tension in the area but the situation was said to be peaceful.

“We have finally met him but alas only his body,” a close relative of Bhat told The Telegraph.

Bhat’s son Mohammad Hanief told reporters in Handwara that his father had chosen this (azaadi) as his “mission” and he died a “martyr”.

The death was preceded by a five-month ordeal which reveals how an unprecedented security crackdown instilled fear in the Valley, preventing families to even attempt to visit their jailed family members in jails outside.

The family said he was health and do not know what caused his death. “God knows better. We are helpless,” a relative said, preferring anonymity.