Srinagar: Kashmiri separatist and Pro-Pakistan Syed Ali Shah Geelani (92), passes away at his residence in Srinagar late on Wednesday evening. The hardliner Islamist leader who has been the face of the separatist politics in Jammu and Kashmir had been ailing for long and had resigned from politics and Hurriyat last year.

He suffered a minor heart attack and was hospitalized in March 2018. Security has been strengthened in Kashmir Valley following his death late on Wednesday evening. Restrictions, including suspension of internet services, have been imposed in Kashmir Valley, said Vijay Kumar, a senior police officer in Kashmir. Security has also been strengthened outside Geelani’s house in Hyderpora.

Some senior members of Hurriyat have been detained. Senior Hurriyat leader Mukhtar Ahmed Waza has been arrested from his residence in South Kashmir’s Anantnag town. He was elected as MLA from Sopore constituency in 1972, 77 and in 1987 to the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.