Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir police seems to have stepped up its offensive against separatist groups in Kashmir, with the office of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH) – which was co-founded by Syed Ali Geelani – as well as dozens of residences of separatist activists raided, reportedly in connection with ongoing anti-militancy probes.The raids coincided with the decision of two separatist outfits based in Kashmir and one in Jammu to sever ties with the Hurriyat Conference, which prompted Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday (March 25) to assert that separatism in Kashmir has “become history”.“I welcome this step towards strengthening Bharat’s unity and urge all such groups to come forward and shed separatism once and for all,” Shah posted on X.The developments come close on the heels of the banning of the Awami Action Committee, led by moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) earlier this month and a surge in violence in Jammu, where a group of militants are on the prowl after exchanging fire with security forces earlier this week.Officials said separate police teams raided the residences of some individuals allegedly linked to the proscribed Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) outfit on Tuesday in the Devsar and Zangalpora villages of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.The JeI was banned under the UAPA by the Union government in 2019.A video of one of the raids showed a group of police officials armed with automatic rifles laying a cordon around a double-storied residence in Kulgam. An elderly man sporting a white beard, purportedly the home’s owner, walks out of and exchanges handshakes with some members of the police party outside the house.The video then shows three police officials walking into one of the rooms of the house where they take out some Urdu books from a library and examine them keenly while the house owner looks on helplessly.In another operation on Tuesday, the residence of an alleged spokesperson of the proscribed Jammu and Kashmir National Front, which was banned in December 2024 under the UAPA, was raided by police in the Botingoo area of north Kashmir’s Sopore.“Key documents and digital evidence were seized during the operation, which will aid further investigations,” a police spokesperson said.Police also raided the residences of activists of the TeH, the Democratic Freedom Party led by the incarcerated Hurriyat leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, and the Muslim League in Kupwara town and the Kralpora, Khurhama and Dragmulla villages of Kupwara district.“During the search operations, law enforcement officials seized incriminating material linked to the activities of these banned outfits. The recovered items are now under investigation, forming a crucial part of multiple FIRs registered under the UAPA,” police said.In Handwara, multiple places including the residences of TeH activists were also raided by the police in connection with FIR No 07/2024 filed at the Handwara police station.“During the search, incriminating material [was] found [and] further investigation is going on,” a police statement said.On Monday, police had carried out raids at the residences of suspected overground workers of militants and separatist activists in Kulgam district’s villages of Damhal Hanjipora, Arreh and Matalhama.Some of the individuals targeted are believed by police to be affiliates of the TeH, Muslim League and Peoples Democratic Front outfits, which were also banned by New Delhi in the aftermath of the reading down of Article 370 in 2019, when Jammu and Kashmir was split and demoted to two Union territories.Separate police teams carried out raids in the Pulwama and Shopian districts on Monday in connection with cases filed under the provisions of the UAPA against the TeH.A police spokesperson said that the raids were conducted after obtaining search warrants from the court and in the presence of local representatives.“The ongoing investigation aims to dismantle the anti-national and separatist ecosystem in the Union territory by identifying and taking strict legal action against individuals involved in such activities,” the spokesperson said.On Monday, Jammu and Kashmir police teams swooped down on the residences of alleged activists of the TeH, Muslim League and Peoples Freedom League in Daharmuna, Warpora, Badran, Kawoosa Khalisa and Buzgoo of Budgam district in connection with FIRs No 08/2024, 09/2024 and 87/2024 under the UAPA.These outfits were also banned by the BJP-led Union government under the anti-terror law.In a statement, a police spokesperson said on Monday that the head office of the TeH located in Hyderpora on the outskirts of Srinagar was raided by the Budgam district police, claiming that “incriminating material” was seized during searches.On Tuesday, three separatist outfits – the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement and the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Political Movement (JKDPM) based in Kashmir – announced the severing of their ties with the Hurriyat.The Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Movement, a Jammu-based separatist outfit, also called off its association with the separatists.“I am a loyal citizen of India. My organisation and I are not affiliated with any organisation or association having an agenda that goes directly or indirectly against India and its interests. Both my organisation and I owe allegiance to the constitution of India,” Shahid Saleem, chief of the JKDPM, said in a statement to local press.
