Police arrest 3 for threatening Kashmir girl band

SRINAGAR, India (AP) - Three people have been arrested in Indian-controlled Kashmir for allegedly threatening the first Kashmiri all-girl rock band, which disbanded after its debut concert following abusive comments on social media and a demand from a top Muslim cleric that they stop performing.

The three have been booked for criminal intimidation and violating Internet laws, police officer Afadul Mujtaba said on Thursday. If convicted, they could be jailed for up to seven years each. They were arrested on Wednesday night.

The controversy over the band Pragaash, or "First Light" in Kashmiri, highlights the simmering tension between modernity and tradition in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where an armed uprising against Indian rule and a crackdown by government forces have killed more than 68,000 people since 1989.

Police are looking for at least a dozen other people whose comments were abusive. However, no action has been taken against the cleric for describing the girls' band as a non-Islamic activity.