Valley shuts on Wani death anniv

JAMMU: Normal life was disrupted in Kashmir in response to a strike called by separatists to mark the second death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani while authorities imposed restrictions in parts of the Valley.

Clashes between the security forces and groups of youths trying to defy the official restrictions occurred at some places in Tral area, the ancestral town of Wani, who was killed in an encounter in Kokernag area of Anantnag district on July 8, 2016.

Security forces used tear smoke shells to chase away the protesting youths at some places in south Kashmir areas.

The Amarnath pilgrimage was also suspended for a day following the call for a shutdown.

“In view of law and order situation in south Kashmir where three civilians died in clashes with security forces on Saturday and militant Burhan Wani’s death anniversary, no fresh batch of pilgrims was allowed from Yatri Niwas base camp in Jammu on Sunday,” said an official at the Niwas control room.

Only pilgrims already in Baltal and Pahalgam will be allowed to move towards the cave shrine.

Mobile internet services were suspended throughout Kashmir as a precautionary measure, while security forces were deployed in strength at sensitive places across the Valley to avoid any untoward incident.

SRINAGAR: On the second death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani, the outfit on Sunday flooded social media with pictures of over one and a half-dozen youths, who have allegedly joined the organisation in the past months.

Pictures include the name of Shams ul Haq Mengnoo, who was pursuing bachelor’s degree in Unani medicine in Srinagar, and is the brother of an IPS officer posted in the North-East. Shams, in his early 20s, had gone missing on May 22 and is apparently seen holding a gun in the picture with code name ‘Burhan Sani (Burhan, the second)’ written across it. The picture shows his date of joining as May 22. Shams’s family actually belongs to Shopian district in south Kashmir.

SP Shailendra Kumar Mishra, who has since been transferred from the Shopian district, had on June 28 told HT that they have reports that he (Shams) was moving with militants and there was high probability that he had joined them. Current Shopian SP Sandeep Chaudhary said he was not authorised to talk to media. The pictures include at least a dozen names from south Kashmir’s Shopian, Kulgam, Anantnag and Pulwama districts, four from north Kashmir’s Kupwara, Handwara, and Baramulla districts and one from central Kashmir’s Budgam.

A senior police officer said it was all part of propaganda from the militants’ side.