J&K: Separatists and trade leaders detained for Bandh call

As Kashmir is observing a bandh on the first anniversary of the devastating September 2014 floods today, the Jammu and Kashmir Police have detained separatists and trade leaders ahead of their protest program at Lal Chowk.

The bandh was called for by the Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA), which is a coalition of trade bodies in Kashmir. The mainstream and separatist parties had also supported the call to protest the "anti-Kashmir policies of the State and central Government".

KEA chairman, Showkat Chowdhary, was arrested in the wee hours today and lodged at the Zakura Police Station.

Mohammed Yaseen Khan, President of Kashmir Traders and Manufactured Federation said that several leaders of the business community have been arrested and the police has conducted a raid on their homes.

According to The Indian Express, a senior police officer said that they had denied permission to the Kashmir Economic Alliance for protests near the clock tower in the business hub of Lal Chowk. "We offered them Sheri Kashmir Park as the venue, but they declined," the officer said.