Senior Congress leaders including some ministers have taken up the issue of alleged harassment of government accredited journalist Iftikhar Gilani by the Delhi police soon after Afzal Guru's hanging on Saturday.

Sources said that following reports that Gilani and his family members, including his two school-going children were detained and harassed by police, the issue was brought to the notice of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, party vice president Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other top leaders.

Taking the matter seriously, Sonia issued instructions to home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to look into the incident.

In an emotional mail to a Congress minister, Gilani, son-in-law of veteran separatist leader SAS Geelani, has written, "I was really perturbed about my children. They were locked in isolation with 8-9 people guarding them. Their tuition teacher was interrogated and told she need not teach these children as ultimately they will become terrorists."

Meanwhile, South Asia Media Commission, India has strongly urged Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, to ensure that newspapers in Srinagar are able to resume publication.