JOIN USStrike coupled with tough security restrictions paralysed life in Kashmir on Thursday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on a one-day visit.
Modi on Tuesday announced that he would celebrate Diwali with the people of flood-hit areas in Jammu and Kashmir.
Hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani and other separatist groups had called for shutdown across Kashmir on the day of the prime minister’s visit. The strike call was also supported by Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.
A security blanket was thrown around Srinagar with police and paramilitary personnel deployed in large numbers and the Army also conducted foot patrols in some areas.
Reports said scores of police and Central Reserve Police Force personnel were deployed in the old city areas to thwart any protests by separatist groups.
Security forces had erected spools of concertina wire and stationed armoured vehicles on important junctions to restrict movement.
Though there were no restrictions in uptown and Civil Lines areas of Srinagar, most shops, commercial establishments, schools, colleges, banks and petrol pumps were closed.
Attendance in government offices was also thin due to restrictions and non-availability of transport.
“Since the prime minister was scheduled to meet flood victims at Raj Bhavan on Boulevard Road, the road was closed for all kinds of vehicular movement. It was made out of bound for civilian movement,” a senior police official told Deccan Herald.
Reports of shutdown were received from other districts of Kashmir. The police said separatist leaders, including Geelani and Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front chief Muhammad Yasin Malik, were placed under house arrest as a precautionary measure. A police spokesperson said the day was peaceful.
DH News Service