Anniv of Guru hanging: Security beefed up; separatist leaders detained

Srinagar: The authorities on Monday beefed up security across Kashmir Valley and detained or put under house arrest several separatist leaders including Yasin Malik and Shabir Ahmad Shah on the eve of the third anniversary of execution of Parliament attack case convict Mohammad Afzal Guru.
The Hurriyat Conference has called a strike tomorrow on the third anniversary of hanging of Guru, and on February 11 to mark the anniversary of execution of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) founder Mohammad Maqbool Butt. CRPF too has put all its units across Kashmir Valley on high alert in view of the strike calls. While Guru was hanged on February 9, 2013 inside Tihar Jail in Delhi, Butt was executed on February 11, 1984.
JKLF chairman Yasin Malik, along with his party colleagues Ashraf Bin Salam, Ghulam Mohammad Dar and Mushtaq Ahmad were taken into preventive custody at Abi Guzar in the heart of the city after the outfit took out a march, officials said. The officials said Shah, who heads Democratic Freedom Party, and several other separatist leaders were placed under house arrest in an attempt to scuttle protests. (PTI)