Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Mar 23: Five persons were held for printing and circulating election boycott posters while in continued crackdown against stone pelters 19 of them were detained in South Kashmir today.
Police said two persons were arrested for printing and circulating anti-election posters in Srinagar city. A police officer said that a person identified as Suhail Qayoom Mir son of Abdul Qayoom, a resident of Batamalo was arrested on charges of circulating some posters in Batmaloo area asking people to boycott the upcoming elections.
Following his arrest, police raided the printing press Crown Printing Press, Batmaloo where many copies of the posters were seized and the owner of the Printing press was arrested in this connection.
Police said a case under FIR no. 30 has been registered and further investigation taken up.
Three persons were arrested after dozens of posters attributed to militant outfit appeared in Seer Hamdan and its adjoining areas. The posters carried the names of some respectable citizens and police registered in police station Mattan.
Police said that during investigation it surfaced that a group of youth from Seer Hamdan and its adjoining areas on the basis of personal animosity tried to malign the image of some respectable citizens. This group pasted posters carrying the names of a dozen persons accused of acting as agents of Police and Army.
“Three persons have been arrested so far who confessed their crime while others are still at large and efforts are being made to nab them,” said the official. They have been identified the arrested youth as Aqib Majid Ganaie, Basharat Nisar Sofi and Younis Qadir Wagay, all residents of Seer Hamdan Anantnag.
And in continued crackdown on stone pelters ahead of by-polls, Police in South Kashmir’s Pulwama and Kulgam districts detained 19 more youth who are accused of pelting stones on security forces during nocturnal raids.
Police rounded up 12 youths in Arihal village of Pulwama district during the night and conducted raids at Rampura, Khudwani, Hassanpora, Arwani and Qaimoh in Kulgam district and detained 7 youths.
Police have launched a massive crackdown in Pulwama and Kulgam districts since last week against stone-pelters and other ‘trouble makers’ ahead of by-polls for Anantnag constituency.
In the meantime, stone-throwing clashes erupted at Anchar locality of Soura area of Srinagar against a nocturnal police raid. Although no one was arrested during the raid but youth today came out on roads and pelted stones on cops who responded by firing teargas. The clashes in the area continued for more than an hour but no one was injured.
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