Officers arrest protest leader

SRINAGAR, India — Police in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir said Saturday that they have arrested one of the key separatist leaders spearheading protests against Indian rule in the disputed region.

Police arrested Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who was already under house arrest, late Friday and locked him up in a government site in Srinagar, the region’s main city, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Farooq is among the leaders who have been jointly issuing schedules of protests to challenge India’s sovereignty over Kashmir.

A strict curfew and a tightening crackdown by authorities have failed to stop some of Kashmir’s largest protests against Indian rule in recent years, initated by the killing of a popular rebel commander on July 8. Since then, tens of thousands of people have defied the curfew, staged protests and clashed with government forces.

At least 67 civilians have been killed and thousands injured, mostly by government forces clashing with rock-throwing protesters. Two police officers have also been killed and hundreds of government forces have been injured.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, the region’s top elected official, met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday, seeking a comprehensive dialogue with Kashmiri separatist leaders and neighboring Pakistan to try to resolve the dispute over Kashmir.

The weeks of unrest in the region have intensified already strained relations between archrivals India and Pakistan, who both control parts of the Himalayan territory and claim it in its entirety.