Separatist leader Shabir Shah put under house arrest

Separatist leader Shabbir Shah who arrived in Delhi on Saturday for a meeting with Pakistani National Security Advisor Sartaz Ajiz ahead of NSA-level talks, was detained at the airport by the police.

New Delhi: In a new twist ahead of Indo-Pak NSA-level talks, Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah, was on Saturday detained on arrival at the Delhi airport and will not be allowed to meet Pakistan's National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz here tomorrow.

As soon as he deplaned, central security agencies along with Delhi Police asked him about the place where he would be staying in Delhi and later drove him there.

The separatist leaders were told that "restrictions have been imposed on their movement in the national capital" ahead of talks between Aziz and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, official sources said.

Shah along with two other separatist leaders Mohammed Abdullah Tari and Zamir Ahmed Sheikh will stay in a south Delhi guest house and the trio will remain confined to that place only.

His associate Zamir told PTI that they were being taken to the guest house which they had booked and the officers politely told Shah that the team was free to go back to Srinagar.

While leaving Srinagar, Shah had said the he would like to meet Aziz. "Today we are going to ask the people of India whether former Indian prime minister AB Vajpayee, their leader LK Advani or Manmohan Singh were wrong. During their tenure, they never blocked us from meeting Pakistani officials when they came to India...

"Kashmir is an important issue...Pakistan's stand is clear. They are saying that they will come for talks and present whatever they want to say. India can also put forward its argument but Kashmir issue must be included," he insisted.

Shah, who parted ways with moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference last year and formed a separate unit, was yesterday placed under house arrest and not allowed to go for Friday prayers.

The top separatist leaders have received an invite from Pakistan High Commission in Delhi for a reception being hosted for Aziz, who is scheduled to arrive in Delhi tomorrow afternoon to hold talks with Doval on Monday.

The Pakistan High Commission's invitation to hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani and other separatist leaders to meet Aziz has upset New Delhi but Pakistan has stuck to the line that such meetings were "routine".