The Jammu and Kashmir government headed by Mehbooba Mufti is planning to take action against 400 local leaders who are fuelling protests in the Kashmir valley.
According to a Times of India report, central intelligence agencies have identified these leaders and shared their names with J&K police for an immediate crackdown including detention under the Public Safety Act.
The report says that the list includes names of over-ground workers of Hizbul Mujahideen, local-level functionaries of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, the outfit headed by separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Jamaat-e-Islami and many other terror outfits.
Quoting its sources, the report further says that union Home Minister Rajnath Singh during his two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir had advised the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to act sternly against those driving the protests instead of dealing with violent mobs on a day-to-day basis.
"These are primarily local leaders who have been mobilising children as young as 10-12, besides teenagers, to come on the streets and indulge in stone-pelting. Many are overground workers from villages in south Kashmir who shelter terrorists and help with logistics," a security establishment official was quoted as saying by TOI.
It has been pointed out that similar action had helped control street protests and stone pelting in 2010 after a case of fake encounter deaths for which seven Army personnel were convicted.
Mehbooba Mufti government has also been advised to act against these 400 troublemakers over the next few days before Eid-ul-Zuha festivities set in.
