Kashmiri separatist leader and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chief Yaseen Malik was detained by the police on Friday night. It is reported that he has been taken to the Kothibagh Police Station.
Amid indications of a wider crackdown on separatists in Jammu and Kashmir, Police and paramilitary forces have been put on high alert. The action comes eight days after a suicide attack by a Pakistan trained Kashmiri terrorist on a convoy in Pulwama district in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives.
Malik’s detention comes ahead of a crucial hearing on Article 35-A in Supreme Court which is likely to take place on Monday (February 25). The article, incorporated into the Indian Constitution in 1954, grants special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir.