Hurriyat calls for 'Kashmir Bandh' over leaders' arrest on charges of terror funding

Srinagar: Calling the Monday arrest of seven of its leaders “revengeful and arbitrary”, the Hurriyat leadership has called for a shutdown in the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday. [caption id=“attachment_3778615” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Farooq. Reuters[/caption] Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik gave the call for a ‘Kashmir Bandh’ to condemn what they called were the “revengeful, arbitrary, and illegal arrests”. Nayeem Khan, Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Shahid-ul-Islam, Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah and Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on charges of receiving funds from Pakistan to sponsor terrorist activities and stone-pelting in the Valley. While six separatist leaders were arrested in Srinagar, Bitta Karate was arrested in Delhi. Nayeem Khan and Ayaz Akbar were taken to Delhi from Srinagar on a Monday afternoon flight by NIA while the other arrested men would be flown in the evening.