NEW DELHI: Indian troops captured the chief military commander of Kashmir’s independence movement and 11 other militant leaders in Srinagar as the Kashmiris met to discuss strategy, the authorities said.
The arrests appeared to be a breakthrough for security forces battling groups fighting for independence from India. Those arrested included Yasin Malik, the commander in chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, and his deputy, Hamid Sheikh.
The capture was reported by Indian news agencies quoting state government officials in Srinagar, the capital. The officials said the men were arrested as they met secretly at the home of the brother of a former top police official.
Mr. Malik escaped from police custody in April and was perhaps the most wanted of the militant leaders. Having been captured after a gunfight, he fled during treatment of wounds in a hospital in Srinagar.
His deputy, Hamid Sheikh, was one of five militants released by the Indian Government last December to secure the freedom of the kidnapped daughter of India’s Home Affairs Minister.
Crackdown by New Delhi
The liberation Front is the largest and most influential of the militant groups, which are said to number several dozen. Most of the groups espouse Muslim fundamentalism and are pro Pakistan, but the Liberation Front says it is secular and wants an independent nation.
The arrests came during an intensified crackdown by New Delhi on the pro-independence agitators, and during a period of increased surveillance on the Indian Pakistani border to prevent what Indian officials call infiltration by militants from across the frontier.(New York Times)
Mian Abdul Qayoom, the alleged convener of “Tehrik Huriayat Kashmir” an alliance of 11 militant outfits and Ashraf Sehrai, a top leader of outlawed Jammat e Islami were arrested by security forces while six persons were killed in the Kashmir valley. Mian Qayoom, the president of Srinagar Bar Association against whom an arrest warrant was pending and whose properties were attached by the state administration after he had gone undergone, was arrested from Kupwara district in North West Kashmir, an official spokesman said.
Sehrai, who had been evading arrest was arrested for his alleged involvement in several cases of subversion. Six militants including three subversives trained in Pakistan were arrested by security forces from different places in the valley and arms and ammunition recovered from them.
One unidentified body was recovered from Sher I Kashmir colony in Amarwari locality of downtown Srinagar.
One person was killed and two were injured when security forces exchanged fire in Rainawari locality of the city, the injured was admitted to a hospital.
The bullet ridden body of one Mohammad Sultan was recovered from a paddy field in Palhalan in Baramulla district. One Talat Mohammad Shah, a state government employee was shot dead near Baramullah bus stand.
Security forces recovered the body of one militant, Hamid Khan who was killed along with 12 of his accomplices on the five km border belt in west Kashmir.
The spokesman said a hand grenade was thrown on security forces in New Fathekadal locality but missed the target.
Security forces continuing their hunt for more arms and ammunition in the border areas of the valley seized two machine guns, 12 A k 47 rifles, two rocket projectile guns, five rocket booster charger, ‘one anti-personnel mine, four pistols and huge quantity of ammunition and explosive material since last night.
The spokesman said a handgrenade was thrown on security forces in New Fathekadal locality but missed the target.
A bomb blast caused considerable damage to the Mini secretariat in Baramulla township of West Kashmir. However, no one was injured in the explosion, the spokesman said.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 10, 1990
