With many searches in the Kashmir Valley, Jammu and Kashmir Police have stepped up their crackdown on separatist organisations.
Operations, which focused on people connected to organisations prohibited by the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), targeted homes in Srinagar, Baramulla, and Anantnag over the course of two days.
Notably, police searched the residences of key separatist figures associated with organisations including the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference and the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party, as well as former Hurriyat president Abdul Gani Bhat.
A National Investigation Agency (NIA) judge issued search warrants for the operations. According to officials, the goal of these activities is to break up networks that pose a threat to national security and public order.
The homes of several separatist activists, including those from the Muslim League and Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, were searched in addition to Bhat’s residences.
Incriminating materials were collected during these raids, according to police, and are essential for continuing investigations into the operations of these banned groups.
This raid comes after the government recently declared a number of organisations, including Jamaat-e-Islami and the Awami Action Committee, to be illegal.
The timing comes as local separatist politics are undergoing a dramatic change, with several factions declaring their intention to leave the Hurriyat Conference, leading officials to claim that separatism in Kashmir is waning.
The police actions are part of a larger plan to counter potential separatist threats in the area.
