Brain behind Kashmir Valley’s stone-pelters Masarat Alam held in Srinagar
Police were hunting for Masarat for the past four months and had reportedly announced a Rs10-lakh reward for information leading to his arrest.
J&K Police achieved a major breakthrough on Monday as they arrested most-wanted hardline Hurriyat leader Masarat Alam during a raid at his hideout in Telbal on Srinagar’s outskirts.
“Yes, we have arrested him,” inspector general of police (Kashmir range) Shiv Murari Sahai said.
Police were hunting for Masarat for the past four months and had reportedly announced a Rs10-lakh reward for information leading to his arrest.
Masarat kept eluding police even when he was reaching out to the masses with the help of supporters in the Valley. He even addressed a press meet under the nose of police and distributed CDs with a recorded speech among the media.
The 39-year-old general secretary of the Syed Ali Shah Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference had become a cult figure who announced the ‘Quit Jammu and Kashmir’ programme when Geelani was in jail.
Police say he was the man behind the agitation, protest calendars and stone-pelting cartels that claimed 110 lives, most of them in firing by security forces, since June 11 in Kashmir. Masarat had been on the run since he announced the ‘Quit Jammu and Kashmir’ programme.