SRINAGAR: Police in Indian-occupied Kashmir said they had detained on Wednesday the organiser of a seminar that was to be addressed by phone by militants.
Ahsan Untoo, the head of Human Rights Forum, a local rights group, was detained in a raid on a hotel an hour before the start of the event in Srinagar.
Senior separatist Javed Mir was also taken to a nearby police station.
We have detained Untoo and Mir. We will not allow the seminar to take place, a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The seminar was to discuss the role of pro-freedom leaders vis-à-vis the Kashmir issue and all separatist leaders in Indian-occupied Kashmir had agreed to participate.
Untoo had said that Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the head of a charity widely viewed as a front for banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, would address the seminar.
Ahmed said Untoo was arrested for supporting and promoting the ideology of insurgent leader Saeed. Its unacceptable, he said.
Police also detained four others including Javaid Ahmed Mir, a senior separatist leader.
Untoo said the police action violated his right of freedom of expression as he had organised the conference to discuss unity among separatist groups.
They (Saeed and Salahuddin) were not the only people to speak, but guests included top human rights defenders and separatist leaders from our side of Kashmir as well, Untoo told reporters as the police took him away. Agencies