Separatist leader wants J&K govt to provide stylish security jeep

A senior separatist leader has turned down the security car provided by the Jammu and Kashmir government because he wants a much 'stylish' bullet proof jeep to roam around.

The state government had evaluated the security threat to all separatist leaders, including those of Hurriyat Conference, and upgraded it wherever required, official sources said.

The step was taken after some of the Hurriyat leaders received threatening calls from terrorists and ISI handlers sitting across the border, the sources said.

To the surprise of authorities, a senior Hurriyat leader, whose security has been classified in Z category, sent back the bullet proof car and made a verbal demand to the authorities for a modern bullet proof jeep.

"We were simply zapped with the demand. Here we are trying to make them secure but they are more bothered about the style," a senior state home department official said on condition of anonymity.

The state government has sent the wish list to the Union home ministry and also apprised it of the security being provided to the separatist leaders.

While Mirwaiz Umer Farooq was being provided a Z category security, other leaders of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference including Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Lone, Maulana Abbas Ansari and Fazal Haq Qureshi had been provided with a guard and a personal security officer.

Quereshi, who had turned down the security offer earlier, was shot and badly wounded by terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen in Soura recently. He is recuperating and has accepted the security being provided by the government.

JKLF leader Yaseen Malik had rejected the security offer. The story was the same for separatist leaders from the hardline faction of Hurriyat led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani.