Geelani's family charged under anti-terror law
- The family has been accused of "raising anti-national slogans"
Occupied Srinagar: The family of a Kashmiri icon from Illegally Indian Occupied Kashmir (IIOJK) have been booked for police investigation under a sweeping anti-terrorism law for chanting anti-New Delhi slogans and wrapping his body with Pakistan's flag after he died, officials said.
Tensions in the Himalayan territory have been heightened since Syed Ali Geelani died on Wednesday at the age of 92 in the main city of occupied Srinagar. Police in IIOJK said a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) - which effectively allows people to be held without trial indefinitely - was registered on Saturday against Geelani's family.
The family was accused of "raising anti-national slogans and resorting to other anti-national activities" at the influential resistance leader's home soon after his death. They have not yet been detained by police.
His son Naseem Geelani did not deny the allegations but repeated earlier claims that police took his father's body away to be buried in the middle of the night just hours after his death, and did not allow the family to perform last rites. Police have refuted those allegations.
"We told the visiting police officers that they had taken control of everything after my father's death and that we were mourning. We had no way of knowing who was doing what," the son told AFP on Sunday. A video widely shared on social media showed the leader's body wrapped in a Pakistani flag before police officers took it away amid a scuffle with his family members.
Chants of "we want freedom" were heard in the background during the mayhem. Authorities on Sunday eased a lockdown imposed to maintain calm after his death across IIOJK, allowing for limited movement. An internet and mobile phone shutdown was partially eased on Saturday.
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