Geelani’s shutdown partial; 40 stone-pelters arrested in Mirwaiz bastion

MI official’s pistol recovered from Hurriyat (G) activist in Sopore

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Nov 25: Nearly a dozen photojournalists and television camerapersons today became victim of intermittent clashes between Police and stone pelters in this capital city even as Valley witnessed a partial shutdown against ‘detention of minors’ over the separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s call. Police confirmed the arrest of 40 youth in today’s incidents of stone pelting and said that law would take its course against them.

Head of the radical faction of Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani had called for “civil curfew” in entire Kashmir valley, asking people to register their strong protest against ‘detention of minors’ by Police. First time this year, Government got Geelani confronted by a senior Police officer who questioned the separatist leader’s call and claimed that almost all the 38 minors were involved in heinous crimes like murder, rape and sodomy. DIG Central Kashmir and senior IPS officer, Abdul Gani Mir, made an unusual appearance on Doordarshan last evening and said that the separatist leader was misleading was exploiting the sentiments of common people and misleading them with his anti-Police tirade. He claimed that not a single of the minor detainees was a ‘political prisoner’ as claimed by Geelani.

Hurriyat (G) retaliated with a had-hitting statement today and alleged that quite a many officers in J&K Police had grown “more loyal than king” and they had inherited the traits of “unprincipled pro-India politicians”. It alleged that many Police officers were brazenly involved in arresting the “innocent youth” and later releasing them on cash payment or bribes and extortion. It claimed that as many 28 minor boys had been detained in just two Police stations of Nowhatta and MR Gunj in Srinagar down. It dismissed the Police statement as “baseless” and claimed that not one of these detainees was involved in any social crime. It alleged that most of the officers in J&K Police were not only involved in custody killing of civilians but were also resorting to broad daylight extortion and corrupt practices.

SSP Srinagar, Syed Ashiq Hussain Bukhari, told Early Times that the separatists had planned major disturbance on occasion of Geelani’s shutdown in Srinagar. He said that immediately after learning about these plans, Police swung into action overnight, conducted raids and made some arrests to pre-empt disruption in the capital city, particularly downtown Srinagar. He said that thin groups of youth still came out on the streets in Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s stronghold in Saraf Kadal and Rajouri Kadal localities and they engaged Police and CRPF in ding dong clashes.

SSP Srinagar said that in reply to stone pelting from the demonstrators, Police used tearsmoke and baton charge to disperse the violent crowds. He said that Police arrested 40 persons, including half-a-dozen minors, during today’s clashes. They included three or four photojournalists and videographers who got trapped in the groups. Associations of the photojournalists and videographers complained that nearly a dozen of the mediapersons were arrested and beaten up mercilessly and their cameras were shattered. SSP Bukhari asserted that ‘just three or four” media professionals were among the groups rounded up by Police but all of them were released within minutes. He said that allegations of the photojournalists that many of them had been roughed up and wounded were being investigated.

Eyewitnesses maintained that more than three dozen youth, who included several mediapersons, were beaten up ruthlessly by Police and huddled in two Police stations. However, the mediapersons were later let off. SSP said that law would take its course against the detainees who, according to him, had been arrested for attacking Police and public properties and would be accordingly booked under different offences.

Reports available from independent sources said that most of the shops and other business establishments were shut in Srinagar Civil Lines as well as Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s bastion in downtown Srinagar. Incidents of stone pelting and clashes remained restricted to only a couple of downtown localities. Sgutdown was partial in other parts of the capital city. In many of the uptown localities, shops and all other business establishments were open as usual and there was very little impact of Geelani’s call. Even the passenger transport services were operational in some segments.

Government offices, educational institutions and banks operated as usual in entire Valley, including the capital city. Reports of partial shutdown poured in from about half-a-dozen towns in north and south Kashmir.

SSP Bukhari said that there was no significant cause of concern though tendency of radicalism was “highly worrisome”. According to him, it was “definitely a cause of concern” that the elders in downtown were followers of moderate Mirwaiz but their sons had hardliner Geelani’s pictures on their mobile phones. He, however, added that such people were not a majority even in downtown Srinagar.

MI GUY’S PISTOL RECOVERED

Meanwhile, reports from north Kashmir said that Sopore Police today recovered the service pistol of Military Intelligence official, Naik Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, from a 19-year-old youth, namely Mudassar Ahmed Dar S/o late Gulzar Ahmed Dar on Onto Hamam, Sopore. A crowd of Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s followers had captured the MI official when he was clicking pictures of Geelani’s rally at Iqbal Market on November 11^th. They had severely beaten up the overpowered official, snatched away his camera, pistol and identity card. He had been, however, rescued by Police with the help of some local people.

SP Sopore, Imtiyaz Hussain Mir, revealed to Early Times that Police worked on different leads and got most of the people involved in attacking the MI official identified and arrested. During the course of investigation, nearly 15 persons were interrogated whose disclosures led to identification and arrest of the youth who had decamped with the pistol.

Mudassar Dar was arrested and the pistol was recovered from his possession. SP Imtiyaz Mir said that in all six persons, including Dar, had been booked in attacking a soldier of Army and snatching away his service weapon. He said that some 300 people had participated in Geelani’s rally in Sopore on November 11^th and the MI official had been captured by the participants when he was taking pictures of the rally. He said that most of the participants, like Mudassar Dar, belonged to broken and socially challenged families.

Regarding Mudassar Dar, SP Sopore said that his father had died few years back, his mother had married again and Dar lived with only his younger sister. He said that Police would book him under relevant laws but would also initiate some measures to transform and rehabilitate Dar and others of his ilk who had held over a lakh of residents hostage with their street turbulence mainly on Geelani’s persuasion.

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