Srinagar: Police on Monday arrested a cleric of Jamia Masjid Muqam-e-Shahwali in the frontier district of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

Local residents said that police had summoned the Imam Mohd Yousuf Lone to police post Drugmulla but he has not been released. The locals demanded his immediate release saying that his arrest is tantamount to interfering with the religion as he leads the prayers at the central Jamia Masjid.

They said that the Imam addressed people on Jumat-ul-Vida calling for a peaceful resolution of Jammu and Kashmir.

A number of people approached police and were told that he has been arrested after a complaint by local army unit.
Presently, a delegation of respectable people have gone to army unit and are interacting with the concerned army officer, the locals said.

A police officer said that the Imam has been detained as an FIR is registered against him. However, the officer declined to divulge details as regard with the case. (GNS)