SRINAGAR: Police has taken three senior separatist leaders into preventive custody this afternoon.
The octogenarian Chairman of the hardline Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani stepped out of his home “for Friday prayers” when he was taken into custody.
He was already under house arrest.
A police official said they feared Geelani’s presence outside could have led to protests.
Another senior separatist leader and chairman of the pro-Independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Muhammad Yasin Malik was also detained along with a dozen of his supporters.
This after he took out a protest demanding the return of the mortal remains of Afzal Guru and Muhammad Maqbool Bhat who were hanged and buried at the Tihar jail.
Another separatist leader, Javid Ahmed Mir was also taken into custody.
