NEW DELHI: Over 500 people have been arrested in Indian Kashmir which has been on the edge since the right-wing government revoked its autonomy.

University professors, business leaders and activists were among the 560 people taken to makeshift detention centers — some during midnight raids — in the cities of Srinagar, Baramulla and Gurez, the Press Trust of India and the Indian Express reported.

The detentions came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was set to address the nation on the radio later Thursday to explain his Hindu nationalist government’s decision to revoke the seven-decade long special status of the region through a presidential decree.