Centre deployed 100 companies of Paramilitary Forces to J&K

Guwahati: The Centre on Friday deployed an additional hundred companies of paramilitary forces to Srinagar to boost security build up. The order was given after the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chief Yasin Malik has been detained by Jammu police and also arrested Jamaat-e-Islami workers in the valley.

The deployment comprises of 45 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 35 of the Border Security Force (BSF) and ten each of the 10 SSB and the ITBP.

The detention has been made ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on Article 35A which is expected to be on Monday.

The JKLF Chief had been detained from his residence on Friday night and has been kept under detention at the Kothi Bath police station. Malik is also part of the Joint Resistance Leadership in Jammu & Kashmir alongside Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

However, the Jamaat-e-Islami has termed the move as well designed conspiracy to pave way for further uncertainty in the region.

The police and other agencies launched massive arrest drive during the intervening night of February 22-23 and has also raided many houses in the valley where dozens of central and district level leaders have been arrested.

The police and paramilitary forces have been put on high alert since the terror attack that took place in Pulwama on February 14.

The Top Court is hearing a clutch of pleas challenging Article 35A which empowers the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir to define permanent residents of the state and was added through 'Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order 1954' issued by the President under Article 370.

The detained leaders include Ameer Jama'at Dr. Abdul Hamid Fayaz, Advocate Zahid Ali, Ghulam Qadir Lone, Abdur Rouf, Mudasir Ahmad, Abdul Salam, Bakhtawar Ahmad, Mohammad Amin Wani, Bilal Ahmad, Ghulam Mohammad Dar among others.

It has also been reported that a team of Election Commission will also visit Jammu & Kashmir on March 4 and 5 to review the security scenario ahead of the election.

The Chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, however, condemned the detention of JKLF chief and the crackdown on the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir leadership saying that the force and intimidation will only worsen the situation.

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