Mob raids hotel, damages vehicles, 10 people arrested

Srinagar, Mar 9 (UNI) Hundreds of people, including women, raided a local hotel here and damaged furniture and vehicles parked in the premises this afternoon.

Official sources said a large number of people raided Hotel De Meridian near Iqbal Park on the Srinagar Airport road this afternoon immediately after the Friday prayers were over.

They alleged the hotel was being used for ''immoral activities.'' Besides the furniture in the hotel, the mob also damaged about half-a-dozen parked vehicles and set on fire another vehicle of the hotel owner before police could reach there.

About six persons, including a photo journalist, were injured in the stone pelting and police action.

The raid on the hotel came five days after two militants outfits Al-Badr and Al-Madina imposed ban on some cable channels in the Valley.

Dukhataran-e-Milat (DeM) chief Asiya Andrabi told UNI that they have no role in today's raid on the hotel.

''It was a spontaneous raid by the people,'' she added.

The DeM, in the past, had conducted massive raids on hotels and other places in the city, which, according to them, were being used for immoral activities.

A number of DeM activits, including Asiya were taken into custody by police for raiding the hotels last month. However, they were later released on bail.

A police spokesman said that about half a dozen persons were taken into custody for the attack on the hotel.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Srinagar said complaints about hotel being used for immoral activities would be looked into by the police.

He said a case has been registered in police station Shergarhi against those who attacked the hotel.

Kashmir valley was rocked last year when about a dozen persons, including two former ministers, a senior bureaucrat and a BSF officer were arrested for their alleged involvement in the flesh trade. However, majority of them were released on bail by a court in Chandigrah where the case was transferred from here on the request of accused.

UNI