Hardline Hurriyat group’s general secretary arrested

SRINAGAR - In a major breakthrough here Monday, Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested Masrat Alam, general secretary of the hardline Hurriyat group headed by Syed Ali Geelani.

“He was arrested on a specific tip-off by Srinagar police from an area falling under Harwan police station this evening,” a senior police officer here said.

Alam, the chief of Muslim League which is an important constituent of the Geelani-led Hurriyat group, had been coordinating the group’s ‘Quit Kashmir’ campaign for over four months now, police said.

“He is responsible for issuing protest calendars during the last four months which had adversely affected normal life in the Valley. Immediately after issuing calls for protest marches, shutdowns through calendars which began here in June this year, Masrat Alam had gone underground to evade arrest,” the officer said.

Alam had been making appearances during protests in old city areas and also releasing inflammatory CDs to the press prompting youth to violence, the officer added.

In the ongoing unrest that started here on June 11, so far 110 protesters have lost their lives in clashes with security forces, which opened fire on mobs indulging in arson, heavy stone pelting and destruction of public property across the Valley.