Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, under house arrest since Thursday, was detained on Friday when he tried to defy restrictions to lead a march to the United Nations Military Observers group office in Srinagar. "Geelani was detained and lodged in police station Humhama on the airport road when he tried to come out of his house at Hyderpora to lead a march to UNMOGIP," a police spokesman told PTI.
The 80-year-old hardline Hurriyat leader was placed under house arrest as a precautionary measure as authorities feared that his planned march may turn violent. Prohibitory orders are already in force in the city.
Geelani had called for a march to local UNMOGIP at Sonawar, near Srinagar, to protest the Delhi court verdict in the 1996 Lajpat Nagar blast.