J&K Police detains over three dozen alleged separatist leaders in Srinagar 'trying to revive separatism' in Kashmir

The alleged separatist leaders were detained from a prominent restaurant in city centre Lal Chowk where they were “trying to revive separatist movement in Kashmir in the garb of a get together”.

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): In a significant development, Jammu and Kashmir police have detained over three dozen alleged members of banned separatist organisation Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) for 'verification' from a prominent restaurant in Srinagar's city centre, officials said. "A Search was conducted on the basis of credible information about the meeting of some ex-terrorists of JKLF and erstwhile separatists in a hotel in Srinagar.

They were brought to Kothibagh Police Station for verification. Inquiry has started, prima facie it came out that they were planning to revive JKLF and Hurriyat Conference," Srinagar police said in a tweet on Monday. Police said that they are still verifying the facts related to gathering at the restaurant. A police official said that on Sunday, police had inputs that some people were “trying to revive separatist movement in Kashmir in the garb of a get together”.

The event was organised by Democratic Political Movement (DPM), an affiliate of the Hurriyat Conference (G), the police officer said. Following the inputs, a team of policemen from Kothibagh police station raided the premises and detained over three dozen people for verification, he said adding investigation is going on.

The officer further said that the detained are from DPM, Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen and JKLF. Among those arrested, Maulana Masroor Abbas Ansari, Syed Shamshuddin Rehman, Firdous Ahmed Shah, Mohammad Rafiq Pehlu and Mohammad Yasin Bhat are prominent, he said. "Questioning is still underway. Case will be registered under relevant provisions after the verification is completed."

Meanwhile, a spokesman of Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen in a statement also confirmed that their chairman Masroor Ansari had been detained along with some others. Pertinently, Masroor Ansari’s father Maulana Abbas Ansari was the former Hurriyat Conference chairman. On March 22, 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had banned separatist Yasin Malik’s Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) under the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).

On January 28, this year, a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sealed the headquarters of Hurriyat Conference in Rajbagh area of Srinagar under the provisions of the UAPA.