PDP's protest march against J&K govt thwarted by police, several leaders detained

Srinagar: Police on Tuesday foiled a protest march here by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party against the National Conference government's "failure" to fulfil its promises and "betrayal" of public trust.

Several Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders were also detained by police, officials said.

PDP leaders and activists assembled at the party headquarters near the Sher-e-Kashmir Park here and tried to march towards the Lal Chowk city centre to protest the government's "unfulfilled promises and continued betrayal of public trust".

Police asked the protesters to disperse, but they continued their march. Later, police stopped the protesters and took several of them into custody, the officials said.

PDP general secretaries Abdul Haq Khan and Mohammad Khurshid Alam, and senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura and Syed Basharat Bukhari were detained by police. Some leaders of the party's women's wing were also detained.

Before being taken away by police, Hanjura described the police action as "dictatorship" by the government.

"We tried to take out a protest march against the non-availability of drinking water, increase in electricity tariff and to demand the return of our youth languishing in jails outside J&K. But look at this dictatorship of the LG administration and the Omar Abdullah government that we are not even allowed to protest peacefully," he said.