SRINAGAR (Indian-controlled Kashmir) – India’s federal government rushed 100 companies of paramilitary forces for deployment in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir amid a major crackdown on separatists, China’s Xinhua News Agency reported officials as saying on Saturday.
The troops were airlifted Friday on the directive of the Indian home ministry.
The deployment has come at a time when the local government has launched a major crackdown on separatists in the region.
During a late night crackdown, a senior separatist leader Yasin Malik was detained from his residence.
Reports said dozens of Jama’at-e-Islami (JeI) leaders including the party chief were also detained by government forces during the night raids.
Following last week’s suicide car bomb attack on paramilitary convoy in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troopers, there has been a considerable build-up of paramilitary forces in the region.
— BERNAMA
