Pulwama encounter: Former Jammu and Kashmir legislator Sheikh Abdul Rashid detained after protest march against civilian killings

Srinagar: Sheikh Abdul Rashid, a former legislator, was detained on Sunday after he took out a protest march against the killing of seven civilians during an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, police said. [caption id=“attachment_4812231” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The former legislator from Langate assembly constituency, along with supporters of his Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), assembled near his official residence in Jawahar Nagar locality of the city and took out the march towards the local office of United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMIGOP) at Sonwar, a police official said. Seven civilians were killed and several others injured after security forces allegedly opened fire on protestors near an encounter site in Sirnoo village of Pulwama district of south Kashmir on Saturday. He said the protesters were raising slogans against security forces and seeking “implementation of UN resolutions to end the bloodshed”. A police team stopped the march near Zero Bridge and took Rashid and few of his supporters into custody, he said, adding they were lodged at the Ragbagh police station. Before his arrest, Rashid said the world community should take notice of “massacres taking place in Kashmir”. “It is obvious that New Delhi has no resolution to Kashmir dispute except pellets, bullets, massacres, draconian laws and state terrorism. Governor SP Malik, the state DGP and the Army chief must own the moral responsibility of the killings rather making fake enquiries and condemnations,” Rashid told reporters here.