Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik detained and moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq placed under house arrest on Thursday after separatists called for a shutdown to protest the killing of civilians and the assassination of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari.
Malik was taken into custody from his Maisuma residence this morning, a police official said. He said Malik has been lodged in police station Kothibagh. The official said Mirwaiz was placed under house arrest at his Nigeen residence. Hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani continued to remain under house detention.
Markets, businesses and educational institutes were closed in the capital Srinagar and other districts while vehicles staye doff the roads. There was a heavy deployment of police and CRPF in sensitive parts of Srinagar’s old city to prevent any protests.
Jammu and Kashmir is under governor’s rule after the Mehbooba Mufti government collapsed after all its alliance partner BJP withdrew support earlier this week.
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Geelani, Mirwaiz and Yasin Malik had called the strike after three civilians died in protests before and on the eve of Eid. They also demanded an international probe into the murder of Bukhari.
“The journalistic fraternity has faced tremendous hardships during the past many decades while carrying out its professional duties. It is because of the contribution of the vibrant Kashmiri media that reports with sincerity and against all odds that the world community that the ground situation in Kashmir gets highlighted and their contribution can never be ignored,” they said in a joint statement.
Rising Kashmir editor-in-chief Shujaat Bukhari, 50, was assassinated just outside his office in Srinagar on June 14. His two personal security officers were also killed in the attack. A man caught on camera stealing the pistol of one of the security guards was arrested .
Police on Wednesday detained another person for questioning from north Kashmir’s Bandipora district
Reports from other cities and towns in the Valley also indicate that the shutdown derailed normal life there too. Rail services were also suspended as a precaution.
Source: HindustanTimes