Yasin Malik arrested for flag march to Lal Chowk

SRINAGAR - In a bid to maintain peace in Jammu and Kashmir, the authorities arrested separatist leader Yasin Malik soon after he embarked on a massive flag rally here on Wednesday.

Malik, who is the chief of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), was taken into custody along with his fifteen supporters, moments after he began his march towards Lal Chowk.

The separatists had planned the march on January 26 as a counter march to the BJP’s Tiranga Yatra.

While the BJP couldn’t complete the Ekta Yatra, the separatists had started their march towards Lal Chowk this afternoon to hoist the JKLF flag at the sensitive site.

To prevent any mishap, the state government had already stepped up security by imposing Section 144 of Indian Penal Code, which bars the assembly of four or more people at a public place.

Earlier today, Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested six Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and separatists, who were heading towards the Lal Chowk to hoist the national flag.

All the activists arrested are residents of other states and the police are trying to gather more information from them.

On Tuesday, scores of BJP activists including party veterans Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar and Anurag Thakur were taken into custody under Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) while marching towards Jammu and Kashmir from Punjab.

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha national president Anurag Thakur is leading the Rashtriya Ekta Yatra, which was scheduled to reach Srinagar today.

The Yatra was expected to cover 3,037 km and enter the State on the afternoon of January 24 at Pathankot. (ANI)