100 injured in fresh clashes; mobile services suspended again

Authorities snapped mobile telephone services in Kashmir from Thursday night as more than 100 people were injured in fresh clashes on Friday.

A police officer said mobile telephone services have been snapped in the entire Valley till further orders and only BSNL post-paid connections were working.

Cell phone services were abruptly snapped at around 11.30 pm on Thursday night, second time in a month. The police officer said the step was taken to maintain “law and order” and to prevent rumour mongering.

Earlier, the services were suspended on July 9 after massive protests erupted against the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani. While the post-paid services were resumed on July 26, the incoming call facility on the prepaid numbers was restored a day later.

Sources told DH that authorities may ask the Internet Service Providers to stop services in Kashmir till August 15. Local media reported that several service providers have been directed by authorities to suspend the Internet services, especially to newspapers and other media houses.

Meanwhile, more than a hundred protesters were injured in clashes which erupted across the Kashmir Valley on Friday.

To avoid a situation similar to last Friday, when four people died and more than 400 were injured in clashes between protesters and security forces, authorities had deployed thousands of paramilitary CRPF, SSB and police personnel across Srinagar and major towns of the Valley since early morning to thwart protests, reports said.

Due to the curfew, the Friday congregation prayers at historic Jamia Masjid in the old city of Srinagar were disallowed for the fifth consecutive week.