India, April 16 -- National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday slammed former R&AW chief A S Dulat for his claim that the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister had "privately backed" the Article 370 abrogation.

Abdullah said that the claim was a part of Dulat's "cheap stunts" to boost the sales of his forthcoming book.

The NC chief dismissed Dulat's claims that the party would have "helped" pass the proposal to abrogate the special status of the erstwhile state had it been taken into confidence. He termed this a "figment of imagination" of the author.

"We were detained because our stand against the abrogation of special status was well-known," Abdullah told PTI.

Dulat is coming out with a new book on April 18, titled 'Th...