Srinagar, Mar 05: Normal life in Kashmir was affected Monday due to a strike called by separatists to protest last night’s firing incident in Shopian, in which six people, including two militants, were killed.
Schools, colleges and other educational institutes remained closed due to the strike called by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik.
Public transport was off the roads in most parts of the Valley, but some private vehicles and cabs could be seen plying. Train services from Baramulla to Banihal were also suspended as a precautionary measure, a railway spokesperson said.
Authorities had also imposed restrictions in areas falling under seven police stations of the city — Rainawari, Khanyar, Nowhatta, M R Gunj, Safa Kadal, Kralkhud and Maisuma – to thwart any protests.
Last night, a MVCP (mobile vehicle check post) of Army near Pohan in Shopian had signalled a car to stop, but it did not. The armymen were fired upon and they retaliated, in which six people, including two militants, were killed.
While a militant was found dead on in the site of the incident, bodies of three young men were recovered from a car. Another man was found dead in another car near the scene of the shootout, while the body of another militant was found in Saidapora area of Shopian several km away.
The Army alleged that apart from the militants, the four persons killed in the firing incident were “overground workers of militant groups”.
However, locals have refuted the Army version and claim that the four persons killed in the shootout were civilians and had nothing to do with militancy.
Meanwhile, police today detained Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik after he tried to stage a protest against the killing of civilians in Shopian firing.
Malik, along with his supporters, reached Budshah bridge here and tried to march towards Lal Chowk. However a posse of policemen swooped on them and took Malik and few of his supporters into preventive custody.
Later on Malik along with Bashir Ahmad Kashmiri and Ghulam Muhammad Dar were shifted to Central jail Srinagar till 10th March 2018 on a judicial remand.
Before being detained, Malik while speaking to media said “on one hand Indian soldiers slaughter Kashmiris with impunity and on the other hand so-called rulers and politicians issue ridiculous statements, announce so-called probes in a bid to divert attention from these inhuman crimes.”
Malik said that “Indian rulers and their Kashmiri stooges have accelerated the killings of Kashmiris to defeat Kashmiri resistance against illegal Indian occupation but these tyrants should know that harsh measures and military might never succeed in defeating people resolve.”
He said that “Kashmiris have been facing Indian brazenness from last many decades and despite oppression this resistance will continue till the achievement of the sacred goal.”
