Kashmiri woman separatist leader Andrabi arrested (Second Lead)

SRINAGAR - Hardline woman separatist leader Asiya Andrabi, believed to be one of the masterminds of the current unrest in the Kashmir Valley, was arrested from a house in Zakura area of summer capital Srinagar, police said.

“We have arrested Asiya Andrabi from the Zakura area of the city today,” Farooq Ahmad, inspector general of police, Kashmir zone, told IANS here.

Andrabi has been on the wanted list of the police for more than two months.

Her group, the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, is a constituent of the hardline Hurriyat group headed by Syed Ali Geelani that has been issuing shutdown and protest schedules here as part of its ‘Quit Kashmir’ campaign.

Andrabi, together with Masrat Alam, general secretary of the Geelani-led Hurriyat group, had gone underground for the last two months to evade arrest.

Security forces were looking for both these separatist leaders to scuttle the frequently called separatist shutdowns and protests in the Valley.

Alam is, however, still on the run and hiding.