A policeman was killed and 11 others were injured in a grenade attack in the Nowhatta area of Srinagar. The deceased has been identified as Shamim Ahmad.
Militants hurled a grenade around 7 p.m. on a patrol of security personnel. A police spokesman said 11 security personnel, four of them policeman, were injured.
The attack took place on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was visiting Jammu and Kashmir.
Life was affected in the Kashmir Valley as separatist groups called a strike in protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the State for inaugurating the Chenani-Nashri tunnel on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
Life affected
Most shops, business establishments and fuel stations were shut in Srinagar, officials said.
However, they said, the weekly flea market, locally known as Sunday market, was open as many vendors set up their stalls.
The officials said most modes of public transport waere off the road, while cars, cabs and autorickshaws plied in many areas of the city.
Tight security
Similar reports were received from other district headquarters of the Valley, they said.
The officials said security forces have been deployed in strength in sensitive places across the Valley to maintain law and order.
Asking people to observe a general strike, the chairmen of the rival factions of the Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and JKLF chief Mohammad Yasin Malik, in a joint statement on Thursday, said “all rhetoric about development or construction of tunnels and roads are futile and will not succeed in luring us”.
They said the Prime Minister was visiting the State at a time when the situation was “extremely gloomy”.
(With PTI inputs)
