Srinagar, Feb 9 : Undeclared curfew, protests and shutdown marked the second death anniversary of Muhammad Afzal Guru of Sopore, who was secretly hanged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail on this day in 2013.
While shops and other business establishments remained shut traffic was off the roads in Srinagar and other towns, as a result of the restrictions and strike called by almost all the separatist groups. Massive deployment of police and paramilitary forces was spotted in various areas of old Srinagar.
Fearing the anniversary will reignite protests, authorities had imposed restrictions in the five police station areas of Khanyar, Nowhatta, MR Gunj, Rainawari and Safa Kadal to “maintain law and order.†Restrictions were also imposed in parts of Maisuma locality following appeals for protest and shutdown by separatist leaders.
Huge contingents of police and paramilitary forces were patrolling the streets in sensitive areas of Srinagar city and other major towns of the Kashmir Valley, reports said. Several roads in old city were blocked with rolls of concertina wires with security personnel manning the barricades.
Thousands of forces personnel were deployed in old Srinagar since morning who had blocked most of the exit and entrance points and residents were not allowed to move out for whole day. Several people from old city told news agency that the forces didn’t allow them to move. “Forces erected barricades and roads were sealed with razor wire. Armored vehicles were put at road junctions,†they added.
However, reports said, despite the undeclared curfew, people at several places took to streets and staged protest demonstrations.
Separatists had called for a strike on Monday to press their demand for the return of Afzal Guru’s remains to his family. They have also called for a strike on February 11 demanding the return of the remains of Maqbool Bhat, founder of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front.
While Afzal Guru was secretly executed and buried inside New Delhi’s Tihar Jail on this day in 2013 for his alleged role in the attack on Parliament, Muhammad Maqbool Bhat was sent to the gallows on 11 February 1984. Both were buried in the premises of the jail.
