In occupied Kashmir, scores of youth were arrested during grand crackdown operations by Indian troops in Pulwama and other districts of the Kashmir valley, today.

Most of the youth were arrested during cordon and search operations, launched by Indian troops in Kareemabad, Sambura, Ratnipura, Rajpura, Pampore, Dadsar, Tral and Mitrigam areas of Pulwama district. The troops sealed all entry and exit points and conducted house-to-house search operations in the areas. Besides, arresting every male member they came across, the troops subjected women and children to brutal torture.There were also reports of large-scale arrests during the ongoing search operations in Gandarbal, Shopian, Kupwara, Baramulla, Bandipura and districts.

Meanwhile, India’s National Investigation Agency, notorious for its revengeful actions against the Kashmiri people, carried out fresh raids on the residences of pro-freedom activists in Badgam and Pulwama districts. The NIA sleuths backed by Indian army and police personnel completely sealed Khansahab, Kakapora and Qasbayar areas and conducted raids on many houses. They harassed inmates and ransacked belongings.

On the other hand, the Kashmir Valley continues to remain under military lockdown and communications gag on the 206th consecutive day, today.

APHC leader Bilal Siddiqui reacting to the unabated detention of pro-freedom leaders and activists by Indian occupational forces in a statement issued in Srinagar said that India had turned Jammu and Kashmir into a big jail. Hurriyat leader, Muhammad Yousuf Naqash in a statement said that people of Kashmir would continue their struggle for freedom against all odds.

Jammu and Kashmir Islami Tanzeem-e-Azadi has expressed concern over the plight of Kashmiri detainees languishing in jails of occupied Kashmir and India. The party in a statement issued in Srinagar deplored that illegally detained Tanzeem-e-Azadi Chairman Abdul Samad Inqilabi, who is suffering from multiple ailments, was not produced before the court on scheduled dates of hearing.

Hurriyat AJK leaders, Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, Zahid Ashraf and Aijaz Rahmani in their separate statements in Islamabad urged the United Nations and world major powers to intervene for settlement of the Kashmir dispute as per aspirations of the Kashmiri people.