Srinagar, December 15: Chairman of the moderate Hurriyat Conference (HC) Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq, Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) chief Shabir Ahmad Shah and scores of other separatist leaders were put under house arrest.
Official sources said the separatist leaders were put under house arrest as a precautionary measure as authorities had apprehension that they will participate in protests against the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report on alleged Shopian double rape and murder case.
A HC leader, Saleem Geelani, told that the Mirwaiz, Zafar Akbar Bhat and Nayeem Ahmad Khan have been put under house arrest in their respective houses since last evening.
Mr Saleem, who himself was also under house arrest, said, the separatist leaders were not being allowed to move out of their houses by security forces deployed there.
Mr Shah has also been put under house arrest as the authorities had apprehension that he might lead protests against the CBI report.
A spokesman of the breakaway HC Aiyaz Akbar told that a senior leader of the amalgam Firdous Ahmad Shah has been arrested by the police early today.
He said two other senior leaders Zamrooda Habib and Fareeda Behanji have been put under house arrest.
However, chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who was released late last night on bail, was freed today.
Mr Geelani addressed a press conference about recent strikes on Fridays against the alleged illegal occupation of lakhs of kanals of land by the security forces.
–Agencies