Amid shutdown and restrictions, tense situation prevailed in Kashmir on Friday, a day after AMU scholar-turned-Hizbul commander Manan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces in northern Kupwara district.
While separatists have called for a Valley-wide strike on Friday, authorities imposed restrictions in volatile areas of Srinagar Lolab area and Kupwara town to prevent any protests against the killing of Manan who hailed from Tikipora village of Kupwara.
Authorities also suspended class work in all the schools and colleges in Srinagar, Kupwara, Budgam, Pulwama, Ganderbal, Baramulla and Bandipora today “as a precautionary measure” while Kashmir University ordered suspension of class work at all its campuses.
Read more: Who was Manan Wani?
All shops and other business establishments are closed while public transport is off the roads in capital city Srinagar. Similar reports were received from other districts of the Valley.
The authorities also suspended mobile Internet services in Kupwara while the speed was restricted to 2G in other areas. The intra-Kashmir train services also remained suspended due to apprehension violence.
Manan was enrolled as a PhD scholar with the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) before joining Hizbul Mujahideen militant outfit in January this year. He was killed in an encounter with his associate in Shatgund village of Kupwara district on Thursday.
In January this year, 27-year-old Manan’s announcement trough social media about his joining indigenous Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant outfit not only came as a shock for his family, but to the entire Kashmir. An outstanding student throughout his career, within no time Manan was among the most discussed narrative of militancy in the social media, and it earned him fame in the valley.
Manan, who hailed from a well-off family of Tekipora in Lolab, Kupwara, was being projected as the new poster boy of the militancy in Kashmir by Hizbul Mujahideen after Burhan Wani, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in July 2016.
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