Yasin Malik continues with his hunger strike

The separatist leader Yasin Malik continued with his hunger strike in Srinagar, against what he alleged police highhandedness.

Malik, the chief of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), has been demanding the release of several youth detained by the police during state elections.

While a record 65 percent voted in five-phase elections, many tried to boycott the polls by staging protests and hurling stones at security personnel, forcing the latter to make arrests.

"Yasin Malik was incarcerated against which he did the hunger strike. From jail, he was taken to Soura hospital and from there he was taken back to jail. Yesterday, the police left him here at the crossing at around 10 o clock alone," said a protester and supporter of Malik, Owais Wani.

"He is protesting against the police atrocities and also demanding the release of all those who are behind the bars since past two months. This hunger strike will continue until they are released," he added.

India has long struggled to bring Kashmiris into the democratic mainstream and elections in the past have been marred by violence and low turn-out.