J&K polls: Days before fourth phase; all separatist leaders, 600 others taken into custody

Srinagar: All separatist leaders, including chairmen of both the faction of the Hurriyat Conference (HC) and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief, have been taken into preventive custody or put under house arrest in Kashmir valley, which is going to polls in the fourth phase in the five-phased Legislative Assembly on December 14.

Meanwhile, more than 600 miscreants and youths, who have a record of stone pelting and creating ruckus during elections, have been taken into preventive custody in the summer capital, Srinagar.

However, official sources said that preventive arrests were made to prevent any law and order problem during the electioneering as separatists have announced poll boycott.

A spokesperson of hardliner Hurriyat said that Syed Ali Shah Geelani remained under house arrest for the past two months. "More than 100 other senior leaders and other workers of the party, including spokesman Aiyaz Akbar, also remained under detention," he said.

Meanwhile, chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq was put under house arrest on December 9. "Over 100 supporters of the moderate Hurriyat have also been arrested," spokesman of the amalgam, Shahidul Islam, who himself is under house arrest alongwith about a dozen senior leaders said.

Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) chairman Shabir Ahmad Shah, who is lodged in Kupwara jail, said over 50 senior and other workers of the party have been arrested in the valley.

JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik has been lodged in Anantnag jail for the past more than a month. However, he addressed a number of anti poll rallies in the valley before his arrest.

More than 150 other front leaders and supporters have also been arrested by the police in the Kashmir valley. Islami Tanzeem Azadi chief Abdul Samad Inquilabi has also been arrested and lodged in Baramulla jail.

Security forces have also arrested more than 200 alleged known stone pelters, former militants and trouble makers in Srinagar, Anantnag and Shopian to ensure peaceful polls.