Peoples Democratic Party vice-president Mehbooba Mufti and two senior party leaders were taken to a Srinagar police station today for protesting against POTA in Kashmir.‘‘We were on way to submit a memorandum to Kashmir Divisional Commissioner (DC) against POTA. It was a peaceful rally. The police stopped it. Several of our workers were beaten and many arrested,’’ said Mufti, who was under detention at Kothibagh police station this evening.‘‘Police told us we would be shifted to Central Jail. It is 7.30 pm now. We have been here for seven hours,’’ she said in the SHO’s room, where party colleagues Ghulam Hassan Mir and Tariq Qarra too are lodged. According to Mir, police have charged them with violating Section 144. ‘‘But we did not violate the Act. We were planning to submit a memorandum,’’ he said. Mir is a former Law minister.Qarra dubbed their detention ‘‘unlawful confinement’’. According to Mufti, even her driver was not spared. Earlier, 10 PDP workers were injured in a police lathicharge when they were moving towards the DC’s office. Police intercepted the rally, led by Mufti, at Residency Road.Other than POTA, the demonstrators protested against alleged atrocities by State Task Force on people and custodial killings. The Srinagar protest coincided with similar demonstrations at several tehsil headquarters. The PDP, in keeping with its 10-point programme, has asked the state to prevent Special Operations Group (SOG) from using excess force and merge it with executive police. It has demanded disarming of counter-insurgent militants and an end to discrimination in ex-gratia for violence victims.
