Legislator protesting townships for Kahmiri Pandits held

Police detained a legislator here on Tuesday as he staged a protest march against the centre's reported decision to set up composite townships for migrant Pandits in the Kashmir Valley.

Engineer Rashid, an independent MLA from north Kashmir's Langate constituency, had come out with a group of supporters in Srinagar city's Batmaloo area to stage the protest.

While Rashid and his supporters were marching towards the civil secretariat, some distance away from Batmaloo, police intercepted the march and took him into preventive custody.

The civil secretariat that started functioning in Srinagar on Tuesday after its six- month sojourn in Jammu, houses the offices of the state chief minister, his ministerial colleagues and all top bureaucrats of the state.

In another incident, a group of Congress party activists started a march towards the civil secretariat as part of the party's announced programme to besiege the secretariat.

As the Congress activists reached the city's Badshah Chowk area, some youths from the adjacent Maisuma area started pelting stones on them while raising anti-India and pro-Azadi (freedom) slogans.

Police intervened with batons and tear smoke canisters to restore order in the area.