JKLF Chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik was detained by the police and various separatists placed under house arrest following their call for a general strike on Thursday to observe the death anniversary of founder of the separatist outfit Mohammad Maqbool Bhat.
Twelve JKLF activists, including vice-chairman Bashir Ahmad Bhat and Noor Mohammad Kalwal, were taken into preventive custody when they tried to stage a demonstration in Abi-guzar area of the city, police said.
JKLF had planned to take out a procession from Sarai Balla in the city but police and paramilitary forces sealed the locality and plugged all entry and exit points.
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Separatist leaders, including chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Aga Syed Hassan Budgami, Bilal Ghani Lone, Shahid-ul-Islam and Zaffar Akbar Bhat were placed under house arrest, they said.
Normal life was paralysed across Kashmir valley following the strike called by the separatists as authorities imposed restrictions in the city to prevent people from taking out processions and staging demonstrations in connection with the 26th death anniversary of Bhat, who was executed in Tihar jail in Delhi on February 11, 1984.
Thousands of police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in the area and barricades put up on entry points at bye-pass, tourist reception centre (TRC) and Budshah Chowk in the city.
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Shops and business establishments, government offices, banks, courts and private offices were closed and public and private transport remained off the roads.