After Pulwama attack, security cover of five separatist leaders withdrawn

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday decided to withdraw the security cover of five separatist leaders. These leaders include Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Shabir Shah, Hashim Qureshi, Bilal Lone and Abdul Ghani Bhat.

“A decision has been taken to withdraw the security cover of five separatist leaders — Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, professor Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Lone, Hashim Qureshi and Shabir Ahmad Shah,” state government sources said.

According to the decision, armed guards, vehicles and other facilities to the separatists will be withdrawn by Sunday evening, the sources added.

The decision has been taken days after the Pulwama suicide bombing in which 40 CRPF personnels were martyred. Sunday’s announcement comes after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who visited the Kashmir Valley on Friday, had said that security provided to those who receive money from Pakistan would be reviewed.

News agency PTI quoted a security officer as saying, “No security cover will be provided under any pretext to these five leaders and other separatists.”

According to the order, the security and vehicles provided to these leaders would stand withdrawn by Sunday evening.

Shabir Ahmad Shah is presently in custody in Delhi after he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Srinagar on July 26, 2017, in connection with a terror funding case.

Security cover was however, deployed outside his residence in Srinagar where his family resides.

Senior separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani and Muhammad Yasin Malik were not provided any security cover by the state government.

Updated on : Feb 17, 2019 at 13:07 IST

By EP Web Desk

(With Inputs From IANS)