Tehreek-e-Hurriyat elected Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai as its chairman on 19 March, replacing Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Geelani held the post for 15 years since the party was formed following a split in the Hurriyat Conference in 2003.
Sehrai was elected chairman of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat at a meeting of its executive committee after Geelani decided to step down, sources in the separatist party said.
Geelani will, however, continue to head the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference of which Tehreek-e-Hurriyat is a constituent, the sources said.
Geelani had been under the lens of the National Investigative Agency, which is probing terror financing cases in Jammu and Kashmir.
The hardline separatist leader on Friday, 16 March, rejected the offer for talks by the Centre’s special representative on sustained dialogue in Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma.
Political observers in Kashmir believe that Sehrai will ultimately succeed 88-year-old Geelani as the head of the Hurriyat Conference.
(This is a developing story. More details awaited)
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