APHC leaders held, released in Kashmir

The All-Party Hurriyat Conference leadership was taken into custody by the Jammu and Kashmir police outside the party headquarters at Raj Bagh in Srinagar.

Earlier, at a press conference, the APHC leaders had announced they would stage a protest outside the United Nations office in Srinagar because they did not get permission to organise a public rally on Friday. The APHC called a general strike on the same day to protest the government's refusal.

As the leaders, including APHC chairman Maulvi Umar Farooq, were preparing to leave the party headquarters, the state police arrested them and took them to the high security Raj Bagh police station. They were released later.

Those detained included Farooq, Abdul Ghani Lone, Syed Ali Shah Gilani, Mohammad Yasin Malik, Ghulam Nabi Sumji and other leaders. This is the first time the 23-year-old Farooq has been arrested after he took over as APHC chief following the assassination of his father Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in May 1990.

The state police also arrested senior APHC activists who were asking people to join the June 27 rally. Their vehicle, along with the public address system, was seized later. Srinagar District Magistrate Sandeep Naik said no ban had been imposed on the proposed rally. But he had received no request for permission either. Naik said prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code were in force in the city from May 5 and that assembly of five persons was banned.