Curbs hit normal life in Valley amid shutdown

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The partial restrictions were in force in 12 police stations ... We did not witness any stone pelting or violence HASEEB MUGHAL , Srinagar SSP

SRINAGAR: 2G mobile internet services, which were suspended for the day on Tuesday, were restored in the evening and partial restrictions imposed in parts of Kashmir as a shutdown call affected life on the 36th death anniversary of separatist Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) founder, Mohammad Maqbool Bhat, officials said.

The 2G mobile internet services were restored across the Valley on January 25 around six months after the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. This is for the second time in last three days that the mobile internet was temporarily suspended in Kashmir. Earlier on Sunday, mobile internet was suspended on the death anniversary of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

Senior superintendent of police, Srinagar, Haseeb Mughal said that they imposed partial restrictions in areas coming under 12 police stations of the city. “The partial restrictions were in force in five police stations of north city, three of Hazratbal, two of east and two of south...we did not witness any stone pelting or violence...,” he said.

Markets, businesses and shops were mostly closed and public transport was off the roads.

“Only private vehicles and autos were plying while occasional road side vendors were also on the roads. However the markets and transport was closed,” said Rukhsana Akhtar, a resident of the city.

Separatist organisations like JKLF, which was banned by centre last year in March, and Hurriyat Conference had called for strikes on February 9 and 11 to mark the death anniversaries of Afzal Guru and Bhat.

This was the first time any separatist organisation called for a strike since the special status of J&K was revoked and the region split into two Union territories on August 5.The police registered a case against JKLF for their “attempts to incite violence and disturb law and order situation”.

The founder of JKLF, Maqbool Bhat was hanged and buried inside Delhi’s Tihar Jail on February 11 in 1984, in a murder case.