Official restrictions, shutdown affect life in Srinagar

Official restrictions and shutdown called by separatists continued for the third day Tuesday, affecting life here and in other major towns of the Kashmir Valley.

Separatists have called for a shutdown to pressurize the government to return the mortal remains of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) founder Muhammad Maqbool Bhat to his family.

Bhat was hanged in Tihar Jail in Delhi Feb 11, 1984, and buried there.

The separatists also are demanding the mortal remains of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was also hanged in Tihar Jail Feb 9, 2013, to be brought back to his family in the valley.

Both Bhat and Guru were buried inside the jail compound by the authorities.

To maintain law and order, authorities are not allowing traffic movement and any assembly of five or more people here Tuesday.

Although officials deny having imposed curfew, locals say the security forces are preventing their movement in the old city areas.

All senior separatist leaders, including JKLF chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Muhammad Nayeem Khan, Mushtaq-ul-Islam and others, have been taken into preventive custody.

Senior separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani has been placed under house arrest inside his uptown Hyderpora residence in the city.

Senior police officers say this has been done to maintain law and order.

No major untoward incident has occurred anywhere in the Kashmir Valley in the last two days.

Sporadic incidents of youth pelting stones at the security forces and clashing with them occurred Monday in Ganderbal, Baramulla and Bandipora districts.

"We dealt with these minor stone-pelting incidents with responsible restraint. Nobody has been injured in these incidents. The law and order situation in the valley is normal," Inspector General of Police (Kashmir Zone) Abdul Ghani Mir told IANS here.