Huge rush in weekly flea market in Srinagar even as shutdown continues in Valley

The weekly flea market here saw a huge rush even as normal life elsewhere in Kashmir remained affected for the 77th consecutive day on Sunday following abrogation of Article 370 provisions, officials said.

Main markets remained shut and public transport were off the roads. Private vehicles were plying unhindered in the city and elsewhere in Kashmir, while auto-rickshaws and a few inter-district cabs were seen in some areas of the Valley, they said.

The weekly flea market, locally known as 'Sunday Market', was open as several dozen vendors had put up stalls on the TRC Chowk-Batamaloo axis through Lal Chowk city centre, the officials said.

The market witnessed a huge rush of customers as thousands of people thronged it for shopping clothes and other items.

However, elsewhere life remained affected. Shops opened for a few hours early in the morning in some areas, including the commercial hub of Lal Chowk, but the main markets and other business establishments were shut, officials said.

Internet services - across all platforms - continued to be unavailable in the valley, the officials said.

Most of the top level and second rung separatist politicians have been taken into preventive custody while mainstream leaders, including two former chief ministers -- Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, have been either detained or placed under house arrest.

Another former chief minister and Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah has been arrested under the controversial Public Safety act, a law enacted by his father and National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1978 when he was the chief minister.