Militants release two relatives of J&K policemen, keep nine in custody

Protesters shout slogans during a strike called by Kashmiri separatists against attempts to revoke state constitution articles 35A and 370 in Srinagar on August 31, 2018. Pic/AFP

Two abducted relatives of policemen were released unharmed by militants in the Kashmir Valley on Friday after the police freed the father of the Hizbul Mujahideen operational commander.

Police said the two relatives, including the brother of a deputy SP, had been abducted on Thursday along with nine others. The release came hours after the authorities released Assadullah Naikoo, the father of Hizbul Operational Commander, Riyaz Naikoo, in Pulwama district.

Nine relatives of policemen are still in custody of militants. The release of the Hizbul commander's father appears to have prompted the militants not to harm the non-combatant relatives of policemen.

Hizbul commander Riyaz Naikoo said in a statement released on social media on Friday that the police had compelled the militants to act against families because the police had arrested a non-combatant relative of a militant.

SC defers hearing on Article 35A
The SC deferred till January next year the crucial hearing on pleas challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35A, which provides special rights and privileges to the natives of J&K, after the Centre and the state said that polls to local bodies there would go on till December.

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