Protesters clashed with security forces in many areas as the truck conductor, who died in Udhampur petrol bomb attack, was laid to rest amid tight security in the Kashmir Valley, where a shutdown has been called by separatists and other groups.
Curfew-like restrictions were imposed in eight police station areas of Kashmir as several separatist leaders, put under house arrest, had called for a shutdown to protest against the truck conductor’s death on Monday.
Movement was restricted in Anantnag and Bijbehara police station areas in South Kashmir, a police official said, ahead of the funeral of truck conductor Zahid, who succumbed to injuries at a Delhi hospital on Sunday after battling for life for nine days.
Restrictions were imposed in six other police station areas of Srinagar, where protests had broken out on Sunday over the death. The affected areas are – MR Gunj, Nowhatta, Safa Kadal, Maisuma, Rainawari and Khanyar.
Both factions of separatist Hurriyat Conference and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) had called for a shutdown in the Valley. A Kashmiri pandit organisation, Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti, Kashmir High Court Bar Association, traders’ bodies and transport union have extended support to the shutdown call. Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and JKDFP leader Shabir Ahmad Shah placed under house arrest.
Rail services were halted in Kashmir from Banaihal belt while traffic on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was also disrupted due to the protests.
As soon as the news about Zahid’s demise reached his village in Batengoo, a shutdown was observed and clashes between protesters and police were reported in the village, adjoining areas of Kulgam and Srinagar. A resident of Anantnag, Zahid was en route to Kashmir when a mob attacked his truck it with petrol bombs on October 9. The truck driver, Showkat Ahmed, is recuperating in a hospital.
Nine persons have been arrested for the attack and the strict Public Safety Act (PSA) has been slapped against five.
An aircraft of the state government flew Zahid’s body from Delhi and it was taken to his native village Batengoo, where he was buried in the ancestral graveyard amid tight security, a police official said.
However, soon, clashes broke out between protesters and security personnel in Anantnag and its adjoining areas, police said. Groups of men started pelting stones at police personnel at Batengoo and some other areas of Anantnag as they were returning from the burial. The police had to use tear gas shells to disperse the protesters, but the clashes were going on till last the reports came in, a police official said, adding that there were no reports of anyone getting hurt.
Protests also rocked Banihal town of Ramban district during the shutdown. People burnt tyres and blocked the highway for an hour. Protests were also witnessed in Kishtwar and Gandoh belts of Chenab Valley.
Normal life was affected in the Valley. Most shops, business establishments, petrol pumps and private educational institutions were closed, while government offices and banks witnessed thin attendance, police said. Public transport was off roads, while private cars, cabs and autorickshaws were seen at some places.
Meanwhile, in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, a resolution was passed condemning the incident. The Cabinet has also approved an ex-gratia relief of Rs 5 lakh and a government job to the next of the kin of the deceased youth.