Srinagar: Senior separatist leader Shabir
Ahmad Shah and three of his associates were taken into
preventive custody Friday as he tried to address a congregation
at the Hazratbal shrine.
Shah, an executive member of the moderate faction of
the Hurriyat Conference, was detained soon after the Friday
prayers ended at Hazratbal, where people had assembled for
Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi celebrations, a senior police official
said.
He said the police action was necessitated as there
was apprehension of breach of peace.
"Shah has been taken to Nishat police station," the
official added.
Three associates of Shah were also detained.
Meanwhile, thousands of Muslims offered prayers on the
last day of the 10-day Milad celebrations to mark the birthday
of Prophet Muhammad.
State government had made special arrangements for
the occasion, including a large fleet of SRTC buses which
ferried around 80,000 devotees to the shrine on the banks of
Dal Lake.
Paramedics and doctors were kept on standby to meet
any eventuality.
PTI
First Published: Friday, February 18, 2011, 19:24