SRINAGAR
Indian police say they have arrested a top Kashmiri separatist leader for leading an anti-India protest march and raising pro-Pakistan slogans earlier in the week.
Police officer K. Rajendra said Masarat Alam was arrested Friday under India’s unlawful activities act.
He says police put two other separatist leaders, Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, under house arrest to prevent them from leading a planned march Friday to protest the killing of a militant commander’s brother in the Indian portion of Kashmir.
The Indian army said the man was killed in a gun battle along with another militant on Monday, while his relatives and angry locals said he was tortured to death.
Indian forces have been fighting an insurgency in the region since 1989.
