E-Paper
‘Geelani paid Rs 2 lakh per month to Alam to incite 2010 protests’
Masarat Alam, chairman of the Muslim League who was released last week, was allegedly paid Rs 2 lakh per month by hardline separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani to incite violence in 2010.
Masarat Alam, chairman of the Muslim League who was released last week, was allegedly paid Rs 2 lakh per month by hardline separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani to incite violence in 2010.
He was last released by the court on June 8, 2010 - two days before the death of teenager Tufail Matoo who was hit by a teargas shell which triggered violent protests.
“He was given about Rs 2 lakh per month which would be collected by Showkat Hakim and Bashir Ahmad Bhat, his trusted lieutenants,” reads the state police dossier – which said that Masarat had received Rs 2.5 lakh from Geelani on September 7, 2010 to incite protests on Eid.
He was released in 2010 when the then state government decided against detaining him under the Public Safety Act. “Masarat, sensing his release, struck a deal with a Muslim League hardliner, Ashiq Hussain Faktoo, in April 2010 to get demoted as vice-chairman of the organisation to concentrate on protests after his release,” reads the dossier.
On the day of his release, Masarat called a meeting of his outfit in Srinagar where he decided to launch a ‘Quit J-K’ movement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the Centre was not consulted in the matter and termed the action ‘unacceptable’. The PDP said the apex court had ruled that Masarat could not be detained illegally and the only favour the government had done was not to get him re-arrested.
