Senior separatist leader Yasin Malik was taken into custody in south Kashmir’s Shopian town on Tuesday when he attempted to address a public gathering in the restive town on a day when normal life continued to remain affected due to separatist-sponsored shutdown even as it is losing efficacy with each passing day.

Malik is one of the three separatist leaders who have led a shutdown campaign in the Valley since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wani on July 8 that triggered massive protests in Kashmir. The separatist campaign was quelled by the authorities with force but the normal life is not returning to the Valley even after passing nearly five months.

Two other prominent separatists—Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq have been detained at their respective residences.

“Muhammad Yasin Malik was detained in Shopian after he offered midday prayers at the local central mosque,” a spokesperson of Malik’s party JKlF said.

Malik gave police a slip to sneak into the restive town before the crack of dawn. He drove straight to Sedow village to meet 14-year-old girl Insha Malik who lost her vision after being hit by pellets fired by paramilitaries. last week, Malik in a similar fashion visited Tral town in south Kashmir where he called upon slain militant leader Burhan Wani’s father Muhammad Muzaffar.

Meanwhile, the authorities have shifted prominent human rights activist Khurram Parvez from Kot Balwal jail in Jammu to a Joint Interrogation Center, apparently in response to an order by the state high court that termed the detention illegal. Parvez was arrested in September after he was disallowed to attend a conference in Geneva and sent back to Srinagar from New Delhi where he was taken into custody.

The rights actibists across the world have raised hue and cry over Parvez’s detention.