SRINAGAR, India — Indian authorities have detained a French journalist in Kashmir where he was making a documentary on security in the disputed territory, officials said on Monday.

Police said Paul Comiti was detained on Saturday in Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, because of visa irregularities.

Comiti, 47, said that he had been followed before his arrest on Saturday.

The intelligence services “were very nervous and had been following me for several days”, Comiti said by telephone from the Kothi Bagh police station where he was still in detention on Monday.

According to Comiti, he was taken to the station by security forces after going to a demonstration on human rights in the territory that is also claimed by Pakistan.

Police said that Comiti had been held because he entered India on a business visa rather than one for journalists.

Comiti said he had asked Indian authorities two months ago for permission to film the documentary for a production company owned by his father, Tony Comiti.

A case has been registered under the Passport Act and the French embassy has been informed about the arrest, Parray said.

Edward was shooting a documentary on Kashmir and had met separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, pellet gun victims and captured stone pelting incidents in Srinagar, said a senior police official, who did not wish to be named.

More than 3,800 people have been wounded and one killed by shotgun pellets since protests against Indian rule erupted in the disputed territory last year, with more than 100 left partially or fully blinded, official figures show.

“We called him to ask him about his activities, but he refused to present himself before the police. He was not authorized to film here because he was on a business visa. He was finally arrested,” the senior official said.

Edward had sought the defense ministry's permission for filming in Kashmir, but was denied because he was on a business visa, said the police official, who is not authorized to speak to the media.

Kashmir was divided between Indian and Pakistani sectors when the two split in 1947. The Indian side has been at the center of a separatist conflict that has left tens of thousands of mainly civilian dead since 1989. — Agencies