POTO gets its first VIP face in Valley

The police had yesterday claimed to have busted a hawala racket with a huge currency haul on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway near Kud in Udhampur. Two persons, including a girl, were arrested and one lakh US dollars seized from them. About Rs 18,000 in Indian currency was also claimed to have been seized.

A police spokesman had alleged that the money was meant for Malik. They had identified the arrested people as Mushtaq Ahmed Dar of Banpora (Batmaloo) and Shazia Rasool of Bypass (Batmaloo). Malik has denied the charges, saying this was just a pre-election dirty trick being played by the state government. Police sources said that Malik would be shifted to Jammu for questioning tomorrow.

He was arrested this afternoon amidst high drama when a police contingent, headed by the sub-divisional police officer, Sher Garhi, Tanveer Jelani, arrived at the conference hall and asked him to give himself up. Malik protested upon which he was physically removed from his chair, escorted out of the office and bundled into a Gypsy.

Earlier, two attempts by Station House Officer Rajbagh and his men to arrest Malik had been frustrated by his supporters who had formed a cordon around him and shouted slogans against the police and Special Operation group (SOG).

Supporters of Malik and the Hurriyat later threw stones at the police who retaliated by firing smoke shells at them before leaving the scene.

As soon as word about Malik’s arrest spread, the Maisuma area where he stays erupted with protests. Groups of youths came on to the streets and forced shopkeepers to down their shutters and burnt worn-out tyres to discourage traffic movement. They also threw stones at the police, which had been posted in advance in the sensitive area. Here too, the police burst teargas shells to scare away the protestors.

Rajendra told The Indian Express that the ‘‘police was going to search his house and all other places where we think wewill find more evidence. ‘‘We will come down heavily on them,’’ he said. According to a JKLF spokesman, Malik’s passport and JKLF letter pads have been seized by the police.

J-K Director General of Police A K Suri, reacting to Malik’s denial of any involvement in any hawala transaction, said ‘‘the information that the consignment of dollars that the two accused received from Altaf Qadri (JKLF international spokesman) was meant for Malik was in fact given by the two arrested persons.’’

When it was pointed out that Yasin had said that Qadri had never visited Nepal in the past seven years and there was no question of money being sent for him, Suri said ‘‘this shows that he (Malik) is in contact with people across and it indicates his complicity.’’

Earlier, Malik had told reporters that he was being framed in the case because the Government of India was feeling threatened by the Hurriyat announcement of a separate election commission. ‘‘I am sure this woman (Shazia) has not seen me. The Government of India was loking for a pretext to arrest Hurriyat leaders because it is feeling insecure after it announced the people’s election comission to prove the representattive character of the Hurriyat,’’ he said.

Malik said Hurriyat leaders were being arrested on one pretext or another because Hurriyat had gained international support for its EC plan. ‘‘The wide acceptance of the election commission has unnerved India and it was reacting to this by lodging Kashmir’s popular leaders in Jodhpur, Sangrur, Agra and Bihar jails to muffle their voices,’’ he said.

Malik alleged that a media blitzkreig had been luanched against the Hurriyat leaders to stop their pro-movement programme.

The JKLF has called for a strike on March 27 to protest against the arrest of Malik and asked transporters, shopkeepers and other businessmen to stay away from work. The Hurriyat Conference and the Kashmir Bar Association have condemned the incident.