Several leaders boycotting J

Srinagar, Nov 30 (UNI) Chairmen of both factions of Hurriyat Conference (HC) and other separatist leaders were put under house arrest to prevent them from joining the 'Kupwara chalo march' call given by the Coordination Committee (CC), spearheading the anti-poll campaign.

Official sources said it was a precautionary measure.

Moderate HC chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq was even not allowed to offer Friday prayers as he was under house arrest, party spokesman said.

He said a large number of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and state police personnel were deployed outside the house of Mirwaiz Farooq for the past several weeks.

He was not allowed to move out of his house, he said.

Similarly breakaway HC chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who arrived here from Delhi after treatment on November 25, also remained under house arrest. He was taken to his house from airport alongwith his wife.

Besides, many other separatist leaders, including Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) chief Shabir Ahmad Shah, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Mohammad Yaseen Malik, Aiyaz Akbar, Nayeem Ahmad Khan and Dukhtaran-e-Milat chief Asiya Andrabi. Majority of them have been booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA).

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