Yasin Malik, others detained on way to hold protest

SRINAGAR: Police today detained JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik and some of his partymen to foil the separatist group's plan to stage protest in Anantnag district against closure of Pathiribal fake encounter case by the Army.

Malik and 12 partymen were taken into preventive custody at Awantipora, 35 km from here, when they were heading for Anantnag district of south Kashmir to stage protest, official sources said.

JKLF had announced a plan to stage demonstration in Anantnag town today against the Army giving clean chit to its personnel involved in the killing of innocent civilians in Pathribal.

The JKLF Chairman has threatened indefinite hunger strike if the "Army's decision to close the case is not reversed." Five civilians were killed in a fake encounter on March 26, 2000 at Pathribal in Anantnag district and the deceased were branded as foreign militants. Nearly 14 years after the fake encounter rocked Jammu and Kashmir, the Army closed the case on January 23 saying the evidence recorded could not establish prima facie charges against any of the accused persons.

The case was handed over to CBI for investigation in January, 2003. CBI in its charge sheet concluded that officials and jawans of the Seven Rashtriya Rifles -- Brig Ajay Saxena, Lt Col Brahendra Pratap Singh, Maj Saurabh Sharma, Maj Amit Saxena and Subedar Idrees Khan, had staged a fake encounter and killed five innocent civilians whom they said were terrorists involved in the massacre of 35 Sikhs at Chittisinghpora in south Kashmir on March 20, 2000.