HC leader Ansari under house arrest, 60 mourners detained in Kashmir

Srinagar, Jan 20 (UNI) Senior Hurriyat Conference (Mirwaiz) and Shia leader Moulana Abbas Ansari was put under house arrest while 60 mourners were arrested when they tried to took out a procession against ban imposed on main Muharram procession by the authorities in the city.

However, thousands of mourners took part in the Muharram processions in all other Shia dominated areas, particularly in the central Kashmir district of Badgam.

Mr Ansari, who head the Itehad-e-Muslimeen(IeM), was put under the house arrest on January 18 morning to prevent him to lead the Muharram procession in the civil lines.

A Hurriyat Conference (HC) spokesman said Mr Ansari, former chairman of the amalgam, was not allowed to leave his Khankahi Sokhta house in the down town by police.

The IeM has challenged the ban on the main Muharram processions in the city in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court and described it as a violation of their religious and fundamental rights.

However, the court gave two weeks time to authorities to response to the case.

Police resorted to baton charge to disperse mourners led by HC leaders at Lal Chowk, the nerve centre of the summer Capital.

However, the mourners clashed with the police insisting that they be allowed to move towards the down town in the procession.

Similar clashes were reported from other parts of the civil lines.

Official sources said about 60 mourners were taken into preventive custody by the police.

Hurriyat spokesman said about a dozen people, including a senior Shia leader Aga Syed Mujtiba were injured in police lathicharge.

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