Srinagar: Curfew continued on Saturday in major towns of south Kashmir in Jammu and Kashmir as life was affected by the shutdown called by separatists in Srinagar and other parts of the Kashmir Valley.
“Curfew continues today (Saturday) in Shopian, Kulgam, Pulwama and Khudwani towns of south Kashmir to maintain law and order,” a senior police officer told IANS.
The Valley has been rocked by the killing Sep 7 of four people. One person died Sep 11. The deaths occurred allegedly because of firing by personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), a charge denied by the para military force.
The police officer said adequate deployment of police and CRPF personnel has been made at other places in south Kashmir districts.
In a related development, police probing the Sep 7 firing have summoned labourers from outside Shopian district to identity the fourth person. While three people killed that day were civilians, it was reported that the fourth, as yet unidentified person, was a militant.
Locals, however, say all the four were killed at the same place, and were unarmed civilians.
Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered the shifting of the CRPF camp from Gagaran and its replacement by the state armed police.
Syed Ali Geelani, a hardline separatist leader, has called a shutdown to protest the killings, disrupting normal life in Srinagar and other towns in the Valley.
Curfew was imposed after the Sep 7 firing incident, and withdrawn Monday.
In the wake of the killing of Sep 11, curfew was imposed again.
Shops, public transport and educational institutions remained closed in Srinagar city, where government offices, banks and post offices functioned normally.
Private vehicles plied on Srinagar roads, but traffic movement was sparse.
Contingents of police and CRPF in full riot gear were deployed at sensitive places in the city. Police said no untoward incident has so far been reported. (IANS)