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Pulwama attack: Police crackdown on Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir, top leaders detained

WION
SrinagarWritten By: Ieshan Bashir WaniUpdated: Feb 23, 2019, 02:07 PM IST
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File photo: Security officers stand guard near the site blast in Lethpora area of south Kashmir's Pulwama district some 20 kilometres from Srinagar. Photograph:(Agencia EFE)

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Though police termed the detentions as routine, officials privy to the developments said this is the first major crackdown on the organisation that is part of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, a separatist conglomerate.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, in an overnight move, ordered the airlift of 100 companies of troops, including personnel from CRPF, SSB, IRBP AND BSF, to Srinagar to deal with the law and order situation in the state. 

In a major crackdown on the separatist camp and Jamaat-e-Islami group in Kashmir valley, Jammu and Kashmir police during the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, detained several leaders of the group, ahead of crucial 35-A hearing and in wake of the Pulwama attack. 

Jammu and Kashmir police also detained JKLF chief Yasin Malik from his residence in Srinagar and shifted him to local a police station. A shutdown is being observed in certain areas as a mark of protest against the detention. 

Apart from Malik, several Jamaat leaders including its chief Dr Abdul Hamid Fayaz were detained during the night raids in south and central Kashmir. Jamaat-e-Islami is a social-political organization and part of a separatist conglomerate. Most of its cadre is active in south Kashmir and alleged to be terrorist sympathisers.

Remember, the arrests follow Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in which over 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives. This was one of the deadliest attacks carried by the terrorists in more than two decades. 

Diplomats and leaders across the globe condemned the ghastly attack. The UNSC called the attack "heinous and cowardly"

Ieshan Bashir Wani

Wion Correspondent, J&K