Srinagar, Feb 12, KONS: Within days of returning from a 20-year-stay in Pakistan-administered-Kashmir, Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, the younger brother of executed JKLF founder, Muhammad Maqbool Bhat, was arrested by the police from his family home in Trehgam, and his wife and four children summoned to the SP’s office.
Bhat, who was anointed the president of the JKLF (Aman) in his native village on Wednesday, has been charged with crossing the Line of Control illegally and being involved in illegal activities, and a fresh FIR was filed against him in addition to the three cases he already faces.
Reports from Kupwara said that Trehgam was sealed off by the police and the paramilitary forces, and Bhat’s family home surrounded immediately after Wednesday’s rally, and this morning, a police party led by SHO Tanveer Ahmad took Bhat into custody.
Half-an-hour later, at around 10:30 a.m., another police party led off Bhat’s wife and four children.
The wife and children were taken for questioning to the Kupwara police station and released late in the evening.
Reports said that locals had resisted the summons to Bhat’s family, but relented once the police assured them that they would not be arrested.
“The senior superintendent of police for Kupwara, Uttam Chand, has confirmed Bhat’s arrest, saying that a case under section 2/3 and 13 of the Unlawful Activities Act had been filed against him in the Trehgam police station.
He has been accused of crossing the LoC illegally and being involved in unlawful activities.
The police officer said that Bhat’s family had not been arrested.
Meanwhile, SHO Trehgam, Tanvir Ahmad, denied reports that Bhat’s famil had been summoned to the SP’s office, saying that the nationality of his wife was being investigated, and a formal case had not be registered against her so far.
He said that all the four children of Bhat were minors, and as such they could not be charged.
Further, sources said that three more cases already stand registered against Bhat in the Trehgam police station.
The cases, filed in 1989, pertain to possessing illegal arms and TADA charges.
