10 ex-ultras held for bid to revive JKLF, Hurriyat

Srinagar, July 10

Ten former terrorists were formally arrested on Monday in a case related to the conspiracy of reviving the banned Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and the Hurriyat Conference in the Valley, the police said. More arrests are likely as the investigation in the case is in full swing.

On Sunday, the Srinagar police had tweeted that a search was conducted on the basis of credible information about a meeting of some ex-terrorists of the JKLF and erstwhile separatists in a hotel in Srinagar. A case has been registered against them at the Kothibagh police station. “The arrested persons and others were planning to revive these organisations (JKLF and Hurriyat) on the directions of Pakistan-based handlers. This meeting was an overt attempt to start working for revival of these moribund organisations,” the police said.

They said an initial investigation had also revealed that they were in touch with entities abroad. A few of them were even members of secessionist groups, like Kashmir Global Council, headed by Farooq Siddiqui and Raja Muzaffer of the JKLF.

Those arrested have been identified as Mohammad Yaseen Bhat, Mohammad Rafiq Pahloo, Shams-ud-din Rehmani, Khurshid Ahmad Bhat, Sajad Hussain Gul, Firdous Ahmad Shah, Parray Hassan Firdous, Jahangeer Ahmad Bhat, Shabir Ahmad Dar and Sohail Ahmad Mir.