Hurriyet leaders put under house arrest, strike in valley

Srinagar, January 06: In Kashmir, the authorities have placed Hurriyet leaders including Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai and Zafar Akbar Butt under house arrest.

The leaders were scheduled to visit Sopore, today, to pay tributes to those who were martyred by Indian troops in the town on this day in 1993. Indian police and paramilitary troopers cordoned off the residences of these leaders on Thursday evening and informed them that they could not venture out. The authorities have lodged liberation leader, Javed Ahmed Mir, at Maharajganj police station in Srinagar after arresting him from his residence.

Over 50 persons were martyred and more than 350 structures were gutted on 6th January in 1993 after Indian troopers set the Sopore town ablaze. The memories of one of the bloodiest massacres carried against the civilian population in the Valley remain fresh in hearts and minds of the people particularly denizens of the apple town even after the passage of nineteen years.

Meanwhile, complete shutdown is being observed in the Kashmir Valley against the recent killing of a 12th class student by Indian policemen at Boniyar in Baramulla. Call for the strike has been given by the Kashmiri Traders and Transporters.