Mirwaiz shifted to ‘ makeshift’ jail

Police detains Syed Geelani

Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Saturday was detained as he began walking towards the Army’s Srinagar- based 15 Corps headquarters from his Hyderpora residence to present a letter, asking the Army to “stop violence” and “go home”.

Earlier, another key separatist leader and Kashmir’s chief Muslim cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was shifted to a makeshift detention centre in the foothills of Zabarwan rage here from a city police station.

Sources said that the 43year- old cleric and politician was “debriefed” by senior intelligence and police officials but, at the same time, they requested him to help the authorities in their effort to restore peace and normalcy in the Valley.

Mr Farooq was detained as he came out of his residence in Srinagar’s Nigeen area on Friday afternoon to march on City’s Eidgah grounds where the separatists planned to hold an “azaadi” rally. He was lodged at the nearby Nigeen police station but in the evening shifted to a cottage in the high- security Chashmashahi near the Raj Bhavan.

“We came to know about him having been shifted out of the police station at about 6pm but didn’t know where they have taken him. Late evening, the police officials asked us to give them some of his clothes and other personal belongings,” said a family member. “Later Mr Farooq spoke to us from his cellphone saying he is lodged in the Chashmashahi subjail. This was the last phone call that we received,” he added.

Mr Geelani and Mr Farooq recently met JKLF leader Muhammad Yasin Malik and formed an ‘ issuebased’ loose alliance, which is issuing protest calendars following Wani’s killing. These call, in turn, are widely obeyed by people across the Valley. Mr Malik is lodged in Srinagar central prison and the JKLF has claimed that the government is trying to shift him to Delhi.

The Farooq- led faction of Hurriyat Conference strongly condemned his arrest. “It shows the government’s frustration and failure in dealing with the people’s revolt”, an amalgam spokesman said.