Srinagar, April 18: Senior religious and Huriyat Conference (HC) Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said on Friday that authorities have placed him under house arrest, thereby denying him the right to offer congregational prayers during the day.

Mirwaiz Farooq said on X, “Every Friday I am put under arbitrary house arrest ! Putting pressure on me not to speak up, the ban also aims to weaken the centrality of Muslim institutions of the valley-the Jama Masjid, office of the Mirwaiz, and cause collective grief to Muslims and all those who oppose this authoritarian and sectarian outlook. My house detention case is still pending in court, where I am seeking relief from the Hon’ble High Court, but In such times patience remains our only strength.”

Mirwaiz traditionally delivers the Friday sermon at the Jamia Masjid in the Nowhatta area of old Srinagar city. He also heads the Anjuman-e-Nusratul Islam, a religious organisation that runs some educational institutions in Kashmir, including the Islamia High School in Rajouri Kadal area of Srinagar.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) last month declared the Mirwaiz-headed Awami Action Committee (ACC) a banned organisation for five years. The ACC was formed in 1963 during the Holy Relic agitation by Mirwaiz Maulana Mohammad Farooq. After the elder Mirwaiz was assassinated in 1990 by the terrorists, the ACC came to be headed by his son, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

The MHA order said that the ACC has been encouraging youth to violence and is acting in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the state.

Mirwaiz Farooq, who is the chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, has witnessed the desertion of several affiliates. As many as 12 Hurriyat-linked organisations have broken off from secessionism, reposing trust in the Constitution of India.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that “separatism has become history in Kashmir”, and the unifying policies of the Modi government have eliminated separatism in J&K. He has also said this is a victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’.

Chandigarh, April 18: National Investigation Agency (NIA) charge-sheeted Harpreet Singh, accused of carrying out terror attacks in Punjab, has been arrested by the US security agencies – the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Enforcement and Removal Operations in California’s Sacramento.

The FBI said on Friday that Harpreet Singh, alias Happy Passia, entered the US illegally and used burner phones to evade capture.

Hailing from Passia village in Ajnala, the terrorist has been linked to at least 16 grenade attacks in Punjab, targeting police posts, religious sites, and residences.

On March 23, the NIA chargesheeted four terror operatives of the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist organisation in the 2024 Chandigarh grenade attack case.

The chargesheeted accused include Pakistan-based designated individual terrorist Harwinder Singh Sandhu, alias Rinda, and US-based Happy Passia.

Sandhu and Passia were the primary handlers and conspirators behind the attack. They had provided logistical support, terror funds, weapons, and ammunition to India-based on-ground operatives in Chandigarh for executing the grenade attack, said the NIA.

The September 2024 attack was intended to target a retired officer of the Punjab Police, whom the assailants believed to be the occupant of the house.

NIA investigations revealed that Rinda, along with Passia, had orchestrated the conspiracy to strike terror among law enforcement officials and the public through the grenade attack, as part of the broader aim to promote BKI’s terrorist agenda.

They had recruited local operatives, Rohan Masih and Vishal Masih, who were tasked with carrying out the attack on their direct instructions.

Rinda and Passia directed the other accused, Rohan Masih and Vishal Masih, to conduct reconnaissance on the target twice before hurling the grenade, investigations revealed.

In the chargesheet filed before the Special NIA Court in Chandigarh, all four accused have been charged under multiple sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Explosive Substances Act, and other related provisions, for their roles in planning and supporting the attack.

Investigations in the case are continuing, and the NIA is trying to track down other members of the BKI terror group and dismantle its network in India.

New Delhi, April 18: Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday described the communal violence in West Bengal over the Waqf Act as “shameful” and a blot on the performance of her counterpart, Mamata Banerjee.

Talking to Media in an exclusive interview, CM Gupta said, “The way West Bengal Chief Minister is herself involved in causing a wedge among people is deplorable.”

Pointing to the volatile situation in West Bengal, she said, “It reflects badly on the Chief Minister if such an atmosphere is created in the state. On top of it, the CM herself is indulging in spreading the communal fire.”

The Delhi Chief Minister also extended sympathy towards the Hindu families in the minority-dominated-Murshidabad district who have borne the brunt of communal violence.

“Such atrocities are taking place against Hindus that they are forced to flee their homes. There can be nothing more shameful for a state, especially for a woman Chief Minister,” she said.

Her remarks came on a day when the Calcutta High Court directed the formation of a committee to review the situation in Murshidabad. So far, there have been reports of three violence-related deaths in the district.

CM Gupta also attacked her predecessor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for doublespeak on several issues.

“He is a master in the politics of opportunism. He issues statements only on issues that suit him,” she said, questioning his silence over ED raids against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Kejriwal swears in the name of his children and again indulges in wrongdoings and joins hands with tainted people, she said.

Expressing surprise over claims of Kejriwal that officials were not letting his government work freely in Delhi, CM Gupta said, “Officials want to work. It depends on the head of the government if he or she wants to extract work from them.”

Dismissing Kejriwal’s allegations of roadblocks in performing as Delhi CM, she said the same set of officials is working with the BJP government. “The Lieutenant Governor also wanted to help, the Central government also wanted to support, but he was in the habit of abusing and accusing others of non-cooperation,” she said.