Mirwaiz, Geelani placed under house arrest; Malik goes into hiding

Srinagar: Chairmen of both the factions of Hurriyat Conference (HC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq were placed under house arrest while JKLF chief Mohammad Yasin Malik has gone into hiding to evade detention.
The move by the administration comes in view of two-day strike called by separatists against alleged attempts being made to abrogate Article 35-A, which empowers the Jammu and Kashmir state’s legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state. The Article provides special rights and privileges to those permanent residents.
“Mr Geelani was again placed under house arrest on Sunday at his Hyderpora residence in the uptown, where security forces were deployed to prevent him from coming out,” a hardline HC spokesperson said.
A spokesman of the moderate HC on Sunday said a large number of security forces and state police personnel were deployed outside the Nigeen house of the Mirwaiz.
He said a senior police officer informed the Mirwaiz that he has been put under house arrest and cannot leave till further orders.
Meanwhile, a JKLF spokesman said that police raided the Maisuma residence of Malik to arrest him last night.
However, he said Malik had already shifted to an unknown place to evade arrest.
The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), comprising of Geelani, Mirwaiz and Malik, had called for a two-day strike from Sundayto protest against an alleged ‘politically-motivated move’ to abrogate Article 35-A.