Curfew lifted in Valley for Id

Kashmir was a mix of revelry, action and mystery on Thursday with people swarming markets to shop for Id-ul-Fitr, demonstrations marring several areas of the Valley and the police puzzled over a video clip uploaded on the Internet maligning security forces.

Curfew was lifted in the Valley to allow people to prepare for Id that falls on Saturday. The hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference also asked the people to resume their normal work for three days from Thursday.

People thronged markets to shop for meat, clothes and sweets and the rush resulted in heavy traffic jams in most parts of Srinagar. A cash of over Rs 31 crore through 80,000 transactions was withdrawn from the ATMs of the state in a single day.

As the rest of Kashmir prepared for Id, Bandipora, Maloora-Sumbal and Palhalan Pattan witnessed protest demonstrations over civilian deaths. Demonstrations were held at Bandipora against the killing of Manzoor Ahmad Paswal allegedly by the Army on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, three soldiers were killed and five injured in a blast inside their vehicle at Pattan in Baramullah district of Kashmir, official sources said.
The explosion took place in the vehicle, which was part of a convoy on its way to Baramullah, they added.