JOIN USThe authorities picked up Antoo, who was released from prison last year, from a hotel in the city and placed him under detention.He was likely to be booked under the Public Safety Act besides section 10 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act under which any person propagating the separatist cause can be detained, officials said.
Antoo was whisked away to an undisclosed location and was being questioned as to how he had managed to get the audio tape of Saeed, a wanted terrorist in connection with the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008.
Though he has been denying any knowledge of the tape, police parties were conducting searches at his residence and other places to find the audio cassette.Separatist leaders including Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who were to attend the seminar, have managed to excuse themselves from it.
Another separatist leader Javed Ahmed Mir, who is generally seen at such seminars, was also arrested as he tried to enter the hotel.Antoo said as he was led away that "we have invited pro-freedom leaders also and leaders from both sections of the Hurriyat. We had invited human rights activists and pro-freedom leaders from our side of the country also.
"But now at the last moment when the conference is about to start, police have pressurised the hotel owners that the seminar should not be allowed to be organised and we are also being arrested," he said.