Shutdown marks Afzal Guru's death anniversary in Kashmir

Restrictions and shutdown in the Kashmir Valley marked the second death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on Monday, who was secretly hanged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail this day in 2013.

Reports said hundreds of police and paramilitary CRPF troopers patrolled streets of Srinagar and other volatile areas of Kashmir during a strike called by separatists to protest the secret execution of Afzal. Shops, public transport, and other business establishments remained closed in the city and other district headquarters of the Valley on Monday, reports added.

Various roads in the city were blocked with rolls of concertina wires with security personnel manning the barricades. The business hub of Lal Chowk in the heart of Srinagar city wore a deserted look.

Most of the separatist leaders had either been detained in various police stations or kept under house arrest to thwart protests. Pro-independence Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik, who was taken into custody from his Maisuma residence on Sunday evening, was lodged at Kothibagh police station, the police said. “After medical examination, he (Malik) was shifted to Central Jail on Monday “ the police added.

Separatists had called for strike on Monday to press their demand for the return of Afzal’s remains to his family. They have also called for a strike on Wednesday demanding the return of mortal remains of Maqbool Bhat, founder of the JKLF, who was hanged in the same prison on 11 February 1984.

The police said the situation remained normal throughout Kashmir. However, some minor stone pelting incidents were reported from some areas, a police official said added there are no reports of any injury to anybody so far.

Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Farooq Ahmad Lone said restrictions under Section 144 CrPC had been imposed in some areas for maintaining law and order.