Faesal was arrested on August 14, 2019 at the Delhi international airport and was put in preventive custody under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc). Following abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, thousands of people including three former Chief Ministers were arrested. The government has set free former Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah and his son and also a former Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah. But others including Mehbooba Mufti, Shah Faesal, PDP and NC leaders Naeem Akhtar and Ali Mohd Sagar are still under detention under the Public Safety Act.