Srinagar, April 22: Hours after Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani returned to the Valley after surgery in Mumbai, his party landed in trouble.

Jammu and Kashmir police today registered a case against Geelani’s party for “anti-national activities” during a massive rally at Eidgah in the old part of the city.

The police got into action after news channels flashed reports that some participants were chanting pro-Lashkar and anti-India slogans at the rally.

“Yes, we have registered a case against participants who were raising anti-national slogans,” said Kashmir police chief S.M. Sahai.

He, however, added that the police have received no report about the presence of any armed militant at the rally.

Geelani, 78, recently underwent surgery at Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital after he was diagnosed with renal cancer.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had intervened to release his passport, and allowed him to go abroad for treatment, but the US authorities denied him visa on the ground that he had “not renounced violence”.

The Hurriyat hardliner today came home to a rousing reception, with thousands queuing up on the road leading to the Srinagar airport.

He was later taken in a big procession to Eidgah — the stronghold of his rival Mirwaiz Umar Farooq — where he addressed a rally for the first time in several years.

When Geelani was about to end his speech, he was told of the TV reports alleging that pro-Lashkar slogans were being raised at the rally.

However, the Hurriyat leader was quick to dissociate himself and his supporters from the row.

“I am for peaceful struggle, and if any armed group takes out a procession here, they are doing it in their individual capacity,” he said.

Earlier, the ailing leader poured scorn on the ongoing India-Pakistan peace process and the “tyrannical” US.