Kashmiri separatist Masarat Alam, whose supporters waved Pakistani flags at a rally addressed by him, was arrested in Srinagar on Friday morning.
Alam on Thursday night was placed under house arrest over a planned march in the Valley on Friday.
Another separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani was also placed under house arrest after his call for a march on Friday in Tral in south Kashmir. The state police said Geelani would not be allowed to visit Tral.
Amid nation-wide outrage, a case was registered. Union Home Minister Rajnath called up Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and demanded “immediate stringent action”.
Sayeed said, “Democracy is a battle of ideas, they are free to have their own way, speak their mind. But something which is not acceptable, is not, will not be tolerated.”
Alam, 44, is accused of organising stone-throwing protests in the valley in 2010, in which more than 100 people were killed. His release, days after the PDP-BJP government was sworn in, caused a rift between the two alliance partners who had struggled to bridge an ideological divide.