Geelani in hospital, Omar house arrest, Yaseen, Javid arrested

Srinagar, Oct 6 (UNI) Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Omar Farooq remained in hospital and under house arrest respectively for the second day today while Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chief Mohammad Yaseen Malik, Javid Ahmad Mir and Moulana Showkat were arrested in the Kashmir valley overnight.

About a hundred other senior and second rank separatist leaders have also been arrested and some of them detained under Public Safety Act (PSA) for two years for their participation in the recent pro-freedom processions.

Official sources said Mr Geelani, who was admitted in the Sher-e- Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) at Soura with pain in the chest on Saturday night, was stable now.

However, he has not been discharged and remained in the hospital, they said.

Mirwaiz Omar along with five other senior leaders of his Hurriyat Conference, including two former chairmen -- Prof Abdul Gani Bhat and Moulana Abbas Ansari -- remained under house arrest for the second day.

The move was to prevent them from attending the Lal Chowk March today, call for which was given by the Coordination Committee, spearheading the present agitation in the Kashmir valley.

A large number of CRPF and police personnel remained deployed outside the Nigeen house of Mirwaiz and he was not being allowed to leave, a HC spokesman said.

He said Mirwaiz has been asked to remain indoor.

Similarly CRPF and police personnel have not been allowing other leaders to move out of their homes since yesterday morning.

Sources said senior Hurriyat leader Javid Ahmad Mir, who eluded the arrest so far, was taken into custody by police at Maisuma, about 500 metres away from Lal Chowk, the venue of the march.

They said Moulana Showkat, president of the Ahalhadees, was also arrested from his Lal Bazar-Soura residence this morning. Moulana played a key role in recent agitations after Friday prayers in the city.

A nubmer of other separatist leaders were also arrested by the police during the past 36 hours.

Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) chief Shabir Ahmad Shah, Dukhtaran-e-Milat chief Aasiya Andarbi, Aiyaz Akbar of breakaway HC and about a dozen others, arrested on August 24, were detained under Public Safety Act (PSA) for two years for their participation in the pro-freedom processions in the valley.

UNI BAS ARB KN1153