Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq detained after he defies house arrest as Modi visits J&K

Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was on Saturday detained as he defied house arrest and attempted to march towards Lal Chowk city centre in Srinagar to demand the resolution of the Kashmir issue during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the state.

As Farooq, who was under house arrest, came out to march towards Lal Chowk, policemen waiting outside his house took him into preventive custody and shifted him to the Nigeen Police Station, police said.

On Friday, Farooq said the government should allow the people to assemble peacefully at Lal Chowk to convey their demand for Kashmir dispute resolution to the prime minister during his visit.

“Modi, all have been listening to your 'mann ki baat' for years now. As you come here tomorrow, allow us Kashmiris to peacefully gather at Lal Chowk so that you hear our  'Mann ki baat'! It's just three words-- Resolve Kashmir Dispute," Farooq had said in his address to a Friday congregation at Jama Masjid in Srinagar.

Meanwhile, separatists under the banner of the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) had asked people to observe a complete shutdown and march to Lal Chowk city centre to convey to Modi their demand for resolution of the Kashmir issue. The JRL is headed by Mirwaiz, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mohammad Yasin Malik.

"India will try to use the visit of its prime minister to mislead the world community and its own people by claiming that people of Jammu and Kashmir are happy being part of India. The ground reality is that the situation in the state is like hell," JRL said in a statement.

The police also took into custody several leaders and activists of the JKLF after they tried to march towards Lal Chowk. They were shifted to Kothibagh police station, a JKLF spokesman said.