The government is looking for reasons for our arrest, but I was not expecting they would resort to such a cheap way

Yasin Malik

Protests erupted in several parts of the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, Srinagar, after the arrest.

Mr Malik, who heads the separatist Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), was addressing a press conference in Srinagar when police forced their way in.

"The press can wait, we cannot!" shouted police superintendant Tanveer Geelani as scuffles broke out.

Police fired teargas canisters to disperse angry supporters of the separatist leader protesting against his detention.

Protests have also been reported from near Mr Malik's Srinagar residence, forcing nearby shops to shut down.

'Smuggled cash'

On Sunday, police arrested a Kashmiri militant, Mushtaq Ahmed Dar, and a Kashmiri girl during a random police check on the main highway leading to Srinagar, and found them to be carrying $100,000.

Indian police fired teargas to disperse protesters

The girl told police that the money had been handed over to them in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, by a Pakistan-based Kashmiri separatist, and was to be delivered to Mr Malik.

Police have now charged the two people under a special anti-terrorist law.

But Mr Malik denied the allegations.

He told journalists before his arrest that he would quit the separatist movement if it was proved that the money was being sent to him from Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

"The government is looking for reasons for our arrest. But I was not expecting they would resort to such a cheap way," he said.

Seeking independence

Yasin Malik's JKLF is one of the oldest separatist organisations and favours the independence of Kashmir from both India and Pakistan.

A branch of the JKLF is based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and is headed by Amanullah Khan.

The JKLF declared a unilateral ceasefire in 1994 and since then has concentrated on pushing their cause politically.

Mr Malik himself has been arrested and detained several times in the past.