Srinagar, Feb. 8 -- People's Conference chairman and Handwara MLA Sajjad Lone has been asked to vacate his high-security government bungalow on Church Lane in Sonwar, Srinagar, and has been allotted a quarter by the Jammu and Kashmir estates department in the city's Jawahar Nagar.

On January 31, financial commissioner, estates, Shaleen Kabra allotted him quarter number J-64 at Jawahar Nagar, Srinagar, in lieu of the ministerial bungalow that he had been occupying since he was a minister in the Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP-BJP coalition government a decade ago.

The move has triggered criticism as Lone is a vocal critic of chief minister Omar Abdullah and the order is being seen by his supporters as a means to compromise his security.

Lone, 58...