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Anti-election rally in Anantnag dispersed

By Shujaat Bukhari

ANANTNAG, MAY 4. Police opened fire in the air to disperse an anti-election rally here and arrested four top Kashmiri separatist leaders of whom two were injured in a scuffle with police.

South Kashmir's twin districts of Anantnag and Pulwama go to the polls tomorrow under a thick security blanket to foil militants' attempts to disrupt the Lok Sabha elections.

The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman, Yasin Malik, his deputy Javed Mir, the Democratic Freedom Party leader, Shabir Shah, and the People's League leader, Sheikh Aziz, had reached the town to address an anti-election meeting. Minutes after they started addressing the people, police fired tear gas shells and resorted to lathicharge. They also opened fire in the air to disperse the crowd. In the melee, four persons, including Mr. Malik, Mr. Shah and Mr. Showkat Bakhshi were injured. Police arrested over a dozen persons including the leaders.

Police said the leaders had violated ban orders under Section 144 in force in the area. "They are disrupting the election process and intimidating the people," a senior officer said.

Tight security

Unprecedented security arrangements have been made in and around the 1,049 polling booths of the constituency. Officials told The Hindu that more than 150 companies of police and security forces had taken position across the constituency. While 603 booths have been declared as hypersensitive and 404 sensitive, only 42 polling stations are considered normal.

The security forces have taken position to monitor movements within the constituency, in general, and in the towns of Anantnag, Pulwama, Tral and Shopian, in particular. Security posts have been erected at all entry and exit points of the constituency. Even as the People's Democratic Party chief, Mehbooba Mufti, the National Conference candidate, Mehboob Beig, and the CPI(M) leader, M.Y. Tarigami, are locked in a triangular contest, the voter turnout is likely to be low.

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