Hurriyat chairmen, separatists under house arrest

Srinagar: Top separatist leaders including chairmen of both the factions of Hurriyat Conference were on Wednesady placed under house arrest, a day ahead of their plans to hold a meeting in Anantnag for the youth who died of injuries suffered in a petrol bomb attack recently.

Hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani, head of the moderate Hurriyat faction Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Khan and Zafar Akbar Bhat were placed under house arrest, a police official said.

Chairman of JKLF Mohammad Yasin Malik, Javaid Ahmad Mir and Shahidul Islam were taken into preventive custody and lodged in different police stations of the city, the official said.

He said the house arrest and preventive detentions were carried out as a precautionary measure as presence of separatists in the south Kashmir town could lead to law and order problems.

Geelani had called for people's participation in the 'Chahrum' (fourth day) of Zahid Rasool Bhat, who succumbed to injuries at a Delhi hospital on October 18.

He and another person were injured in a petrol bomb attack on their truck at Udhampur on October 9.

Nine persons have been arrested and booked for murder in connection with the case. All the accused have also been booked under Public Safety Act.

The separatist outfits have condemned the government action saying the government was not even allowing peaceful protest against the murder of innocent Kashmiris.