Geelani's son arrested, family barred from meeting Hurriyat hawk

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

Naim Geelani was arrested at around 10 a.m. when he was on his way to the residence of his father, the hardline Hurriyat leader, at Hyderpora here. 

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

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

The police has barred the entry of the senior Geelani's family members, media and most visitors to his residence. "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 (NIA) had in mid August summoned Naim Geelani and questioned him in connection with a Preliminary Enquiry registered by the probe 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.