Advertisement

Updated July 12th, 2020 at 10:02 IST

Chairman of separatist Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai booked under PSA

In a massive development on Sunday, Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai -  the chairman of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH) Jammu and Kashmir has been arrested under PSA

Reported by: Navashree Nandini
Tehreek-e-Hurriyat
| Image:self
Advertisement

In a massive development on Sunday, Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai -  the chairman of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH) Jammu and Kashmir - has been arrested under the Public Safety Act (PSA). This comes days after pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani resigned from the Hurriyat Conference due to rift over the group's leadership. 

Sources informed that Sehrai was arrested from his Bhagaat Barzulla residence in Srinagar after Police raided his home early Sunday morning. Sources also add that the arrest is seen as a preventive measure, ahead of the now cancelled traditional 13th July celebrations, which were held to pay tribute to 22 Kashmiris who were killed in 1931 under the Dogra regime. Last year, the Jammu and Kashmir administration dropped July 13 as a public holiday in the state.

READ | Pak voice Geelani goes down as Hurriyat infighting continues; Republic accesses crime file

Sehrai's son gunned down

In 2018, Sehrai was appointed as the chairman of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir for a period of three years. Soon after his appointment as the chairman of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, his son Junaid Ashraf had joined Hizbul Mujahideen (HM). In May this year, security forces had gunned down Ashraf in the old city’s Nawakdal. He was serving as a Hizbul Mujahideen commander and his neutralisation came as a major victory for the Indian forces after the Pakistani terror outfit's operational chief Riyaz Naikoo was killed in south Kashmir in the first week of May.

READ | Hizbul Mujahideen admits 'setback' over Riyaz Naikoo death, says 'India has upper hand'

An NIA investigation in 2018 had found that Sehrai has been funding of the separatists and terrorists in Kashmir, and has been a key manager anti-India activities, especially in the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region. He has also been accused of mobilising people in Kashmir by using a pro-Pakistan narrative and inciting them against the forces and the Indian government.

READ | Naikoo aide among eight terrorists eliminated by forces in less than 24 hours in J&K

READ | Pro-Pak separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani resigns from Hurriyat Conference; blames party

Advertisement

Published July 12th, 2020 at 10:02 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo