Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chief Yasin Malik were arrested in Srinagar on Monday to foil separatists march towards the Army headquarters to protest against killing of seven civilians in the Pulwama operation.

Mr. Malik was detained by a team of policemen when he along with his supporters alighted near Gaw Kadal amd marched towards Badamibagh, which houses the headquarters of the Army's 15 Corps and is just seven km away.

In a separate crackdown, the police arrested the Mirwaiz outside his residence at Srinagar’s Naseembagh.

“It’s preposterous to brand civilians as over ground workers and terrorists. The Government of India has overplayed the terrorist, Pakistan proxy and instigators card. The world sees ever growing graph of atrocities and massacres of Kashmiris, who are only asking for a just and peaceful resolution of the dispute,” said the Mirwaiz.

Roads sealed amid shutdown

The authorities sealed the roads leading to the Army headquarters in Srinagar on Monday and imposed restrictions on the movement of people and vehicles in the volatile old city and south Kashmir’s Pulwama.

A shutdown is being observed for the third consecutive day on Monday in the Kashmir valley. Tension surged in the Valley after three militants and seven civilians were left dead in the Army operation in Pulwama on Saturday.

Locals alleged civilians were killed hours after the operation was called off and “were targetted deliberately during clashes”. The police said the “mob came dangerously close” to the security forces engaged in the operation near the encounter site. It was the highest civilian casualties near an encounter site this year.