'Prohibitory orders imposed in the Valley'

Srinagar: The authorities today banned en mass gathering of the people in parts of the Kashmir valley, including Srinagar, to maintain law and order during the separatists’ strike to protest the killings of 13 militants and four civilians in counter-militancy operations yesterday.

The restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPc have been imposed in parts of Srinagar in central Kashmir – and in Shopian and Kulgam districts of south Kashmir, the officials said adding the internet service too has been suspended in the Valley.

They said the curbs have been enforced in Khanyar, Nowhatta, Rainawari, Safakadal, Maharajgunj, Maisuma, Kralkhud and Soura areas of the city here. The officials said the prohibitory orders have been imposed as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order. The separatists have called for a two-day strike yesterday in Kashmir over the killings of 13 militants and four civilians in three separate encounters in the Valley yesterday.

The separatists, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Mailk under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) also asked the people to suspend business and other activities and offer funeral prayers in absentia across the valley.

The strike disrupted the normal life elsewhere in the Valley with most of the shops, fuel stations and other business establishments remaining shut and public transport staying off road, the officials said. They said Geelani and Mirwaiz have been put under house arrest. The security forces have been deployed in strength at sensitive places across the valley to thwart any untoward incident, the officials said.

The authorities, meanwhile, have ordered closure of all schools and colleges across Kashmir today. Kashmir University, Central University Kashmir and Islamic University of Science and Technology have also suspended classes and postponed examinations scheduled for today, the officials said. They said mobile internet services remained suspended in most districts of the Valley.