Normal life was affected in Kashmir Valley on Monday by a shutdown called by separatists to protest against the recent killings of militants and a civilian in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. Even as the shutdown passed off peacefully, suspected militants shot dead a soldier of the Territorial Army (TA), who had been active in counter-insurgency operations.
The separatists’ JoinT Resistance Leadership (JRL), a grouping of prominent separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, had called for daylong shutdown against the recent kilings. Five local militants of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen outfits including top-ranking commander Gulzar Padder, all residents of Kulgam and Anantnag districts, were killed in a counter-militant operation in Chowgam village of Qazigund on Friday. In the aftermath of the gunfight, a civilian youngster Rouf Ganaie from Anchidora Anantnag was also killed and two dozen protesters were injured.
Shops, fuel stations, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed in Srinagar and other areas of the city while public transport was generally off the roads. Very scanty private and public transport vehicles were seen plying on some Srinagar roads.
The shutdown also impacted attendance in government offices including the Civil Secretariat.
The authorities deployed police and paramilitaries in sensitive areas of capital Srinagar to prevent any law and order situation.
The train services were suspended between Banihal and Baramulla for the third consecutive day since Saturday following killings in Kulgam. The speed of mobile internet has been reduced in south Kashmir areas and elsewhere in the Valley as a precautionary security measure.
Meanwhile, unidentified militants shot dead a Territorial Army (TA) man Mukhtar Ahmad Malik alias Mukhtar Gola at his home in Shurat area of south Kashmir's Kulgam district on Saturday afternoon.
Mukhtar Gola was a former cadre of pro-government militia known as Ikhwan, a counter-insurgent group that killed hundreds of militants in Kashmir Valley between late 1990s and early 2000.