Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir imposed restrictions and slowed down Internet speeds in parts of the Kashmir Valley on Monday, as separatists called for a shutdown on the third death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen “commander” Burhan Wani.
Wani was was killed in an encounter on July 9, 2016.
The shutdown call paralysed life, with schools, offices, banks and petrol pumps remaining closed.
There was very thin road traffic, and rail services were suspended. Speed of mobile Internet service was reduced “as a precautionary measure”.
The separatist Joint Resistance Leadership, comprising groups led by Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, had called for a shutdown.
House arrest
Mr. Geelani, the Mirwaiz and Aga Syed were placed under house arrest.
“The shutdown should serve as an eye opener for those persistently in a denial mode of the ground realities in Kashmir,” Mr. Geelani said.
Several volatile pockets of the old city in Srinagar witnessed restrictions on the movement of vehicles. There were additional deployments made on the roads to keep protesters at bay.
Severe restrictions were imposed in Wani’s hoemtown Tral, where all roads were sealed. Wani and his other two associates were killed in a brief encounter with the security forces in Anantnag’s Bamdoora area in July 8, 2016, resulting in a five- month street agitation.
Civilian injured
Meanwhile, a civilian was injured in a ceasefire violation in Rajouri’s Nowshera on Monday.
An official said the civilian, identified as Ram Swaroop of Kalsian, suffered injuries when Pakistan resorted to cross-border shelling and firing along the Line of Control early on Monday. “He was taken to a local hospital,” said the official.
