A day after protests erupted outside the residence of Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik over his sentencing, the J-K Police have arrested 10 youngsters and booked them under anti-terror laws. The police said they are in the process of identifying more protesters and some would be booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) that allows the government to detain a person without trial for up to a year.
“10 accused arrested so far in anti-national sloganeering and stone pelting outside the home of Yasin Malik prior to sentencing in Maisuma yesterday,” J-K Police said in a tweet. “Others are being identified and will be arrested soon. Case has been registered under ULPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) and IPC (Indian Penal Code). The main instigators of this hooliganism will be booked under PSA. Such anti-national activities and provocative posture will be always dealt strictly and with full force of law.”
The police arrested the youth during night raids at Maisuma and its surrounding areas.
On Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of men and women took to the streets in Maisuma area of Srinagar raising slogans in favour of Yasin Malik, who was awarded two life sentences and varying jail terms on Wednesday. The protesters also threw stones at the police and paramilitary forces deployed in Srinagar city, especially at Malik’s native Maisuma. The police fired tear gas shells to disperse the protesters.
Wednesday’s protests at the city centre were the first big protests in Srinagar city after August 5, 2019 when Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was abrogated and the state was bifurcated into two Union Territories.
Over the last two years, police have been extra stringent with the protesters, booking them under anti-terror laws. Police sources said the aim was to ensure that people do not take to the streets. The police fear that if protests are allowed at any place, they could spiral into massive protests across the Kashmir Valley.
In April, J-K Police booked 13 youth for sedition for raising pro-freedom slogans inside Srinagar’s grand mosque.
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