Hurriyat behind stone-pelting, says arrested Imam

SRINAGAR: An Imam of Jamia Masjid in Amargarh in Sopore, Abdul Latif Lone, who was arrested during the recent unrest in Kashmir Valley, has told his interrogators that the hardline Hurriyat Conference paid `400 to each youth to indulge in stone-pelting during Friday protests.

Lone told the police that the stone-pelting was sponsored by the Syed Ali Shah Geelani faction to create law and order problem in Sopore. During questioning, Lone, a resident of Radbugh in Kupwara district, revealed each youth was paid `400 every Friday to resort to stone-pelting, DIG of north Kashmir Munir Khan told reporters.

The DIG said Firdous Ahmad Sheikh, a resident of Jalalabad locality, informed the police about the nexus between stone pelters, Hurriyat activists and the militants.

The police later made a number of arrests. Many of them are still behind bars under Public Safety Act. During these arrests, the police recovered a haul of arms and ammunition from Badamibagh Sopore that includes a pistol, a rifle and two satellite phones etc.

DIG Khan said the money is being raised from the local fruit mandi and the saw mills.

Of the five fund raisers, he said two are absconding, two have been booked under PSA and one, a government employee, is in the police lock-up. “In our range this year, we have killed 26 terrorists, including five locals, and arrested 12 militants, including a foreign militant,” Khan said. Two of the detained militants were arrested when they were on way to Rajouri.