Shutdown in Kashmir to protest curbs on Geelani

Normal life in Kashmir was disrupted on Tuesday following a strike call given by the hardline separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference against the curbs imposed on its chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani in New Delhi, which barred him from leaving the capital.

Geelani has been asked by probe agencies not to leave Delhi to face investigations in connection to the recently unearthed Hawala money trail in Kashmir.

With shops closed business in Srinagar and other major towns, business in the Valley was affected due to the strike. In the Kashmir capital, public transport also remained off the road, but private vehicles continued to ply.     

As rumours of Geelani's arrest gathered wind, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah denied that any arrest warrant had been issued against the APHC leader. Meanwhile, police authorities made elaborate security arrangements in J&K to maintain law and order.

The Delhi police said that it had asked Geelani to indicate a convenient date and time when he could meet an officer investigating the case of hawala transactions in which a close aide of his was arrested in December last year.

The APHC in a statement said Geelani was scheduled to return to Srinagar on Tuesday after medical treatment in New Delhi.