J&K police arrest Geelani's son, bar entry into family residence

The Hurriyat leader has been leading the Kashmir Valley unrest, following the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani

Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's elder son, a doctor at a government hospital at Srinagar, was arrested on October 22 by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, family sources told IANS.

Naim Geelani was arrested at around 10 am when he was on his way to his father's residence at Hyderpora.

"He was not allowed inside the house and police arrested him," a family source told IANS.

The arrest comes comes close on the heels of senior Geelani's scheduled "address to the nation" over the telephone on Saturday afternoon.

The police has barred entry to the Geelani residence for family members, media and visitors. "Authorities have also installed jammers at the residence to block all phone connectivity," the source added.

Geelani, who has been leading the unrest in Kashmir Valley since the July 8 killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani, has been under continuous house arrest.

Geelani along with other separatist leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, has been issuing the "protest calendars" every week under the banner of "Joint Resistance Leadership".

The National Investigation Agency had, in mid-August, summoned Naim Geelani and questioned him in connection with a preliminary enquiry registered by the probing agency.

The state police and security agencies have been picking up many separatist leaders and their party workers, and even those the government feels are "instigators" of the violence.