Separatist Maulana Ansari demands removal of security personnel from residence

Senior Hurriyat Conference leader Maulana Abbas Ansari Monday asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to withdraw security personnel posted at his residence. His statement comes a day after security cover of six separatist leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was withdrawn, a decision that comes in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror strike in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

In a letter to the police's security wing, he said personnel deployed at his residence be withdrawn forthwith. "We will not provide any kind of accommodation to the security personnel henceforth, " the Hurriyat Conference leader said.

A spokesman of the Ansari-led Ittehadul Muslimeen said it was the government's decision at that time to provide security and today, it is their decision to remove it. "It's not an issue for us. With or without these police personnel at Hurriyat leaders residences, all remains the same. Hurriyat leaders had never asked for it," the spokesman said. He claimed that Hurriyat leaders had never asked for security and it was the state government which had insisted on it.