Police thwart separatist seminar plan in Srinagar

Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested separatist leader Mohammad Ahsan Untoo on Wednesday and thwarted his plan to organise a seminar to be addressed by militant leaders in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Untoo, chairman of International Forum for Justice, and Javid Ahmad Mir, acting chairman of a breakaway faction of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), were taken away from Srinagar’s Hotel Taj, the venue for the seminar titled ‘The role of pro-freedom leaders vis-à-vis Kashmir issue’. Policemen sealed the hotel.

Untoo and Mir were shifted to an undisclosed location for questioning. The former is being questioned for trying to give United Jihad Council’s PoK-based chief Syed Salahuddin, the supreme commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, a platform to address the seminar over phone.

“There was a possibility of Salahuddin addressing the gathering. He is in touch with separatist leaders here and  freely gives teleinterviews to news agencies,” a police officer said.

Police are probing Untoo’s links with the militant leadership in PoK. Media reports suggested Untoo was to play recorded tapes of LeT patron Hafiz Sayeed and Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar at the seminar. 

Untoo, however, said he had only invited “pro-freedom” leaders to discuss the issue.