Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Police in Srinagar held nine more persons for protesting, raising anti-india slogans hooliganism and stone-pelting on Wednesday when the JKLF chief Yasin Malik was sentenced Life Imprisonment by NIA court. So far 19 persons have been arrested.
“Accordingly, midnight raids were conducted at many places that led to the arrest of 19 accused persons including the key accused involved in the commission of crime after proper identification," Police said.
"However, the other accused persons involved in the commission of crime are being identified and will be booked soon under relevant law," polic said in a statement.
"19 accused arrested so far (after proper identification), in relation to arson, stone pelting, sloganeering etc. outside house of Yasin Malik," the statement said.
"Youth is advised to stay away from such subversive activities. Such activities will never be tolerated at all, now or in future", Srinagar Police tweeted.
Mr. Malik was brought to Patiala House Court in New Delhi amid tight security on Wednesday, 26 May and after hearing the arguments, Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined with 10 Lakh rupees apart from other additional fines. Earlier he pleaded guilty before the court stating that he won’t contest charges framed against him.
"These crimes were intended to strike at the heart of the idea of India and intended to forcefully secede J&K from UOI Union of India," the court had observed.
As per reports, NIA had demanded death penalty for the JKLF chief under section 121 of the IPC before the verdict on Malik’s sentencing was delayed by a few hours by the court.
During the hearing, Malik had argued why the Indian government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee would give him a passport and allow him to travel and speak around the world if he was a criminal.
On the sentencing day, a spontaneous shutdown was observed including the commercial hub Lal chowk in Srinagar with strong political reactions from Unionists in Jammu & Kashmir.
Mobile Internet was suspended in parts of the Kashmir Valley “as a precautionary measure”.
Yasin Malik is the chairman of now banned JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front) which was founded by Amanullah Khan, with Maqbool Bhat in 1948 in both Pakistan-administered and Indian-administered Kashmir for the re-unification and complete independence of Jammu and Kashmir State. Mr. Malik took over JKLF in 1980.
JKLF was banned by GOI Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) in March 2019, before the semi-autonomous status of J&K was scrapped and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into two Union Territories on 5 August 2019.
It was the first outfit to pick up arms in the Valley but joined the dialogue process in 2000 with the Union when late BJP’s Atal Bihari Bajpayee was the Prime Minister.
