R-Day in Kashmir: Mobile internet services suspended

Mobile internet services were suspended across Kashmir on Saturday as a precautionary measure on the occasion of Republic Day, but mobile phone services functioned as usual.

Mobile internet services were snapped in the early hours as stringent security arrangements were put in place for Republic Day celebrations across Kashmir Valley, a police official said.

He said the services were snapped as a precautionary measure.

However, the mobile phone services, which used to be suspended for the duration of the Republic Day ceremony here, were functioning as usual.

Two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces on Saturday in Khunmoh area on the outskirts of Srinagar city in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

While suspension of mobile phone and internet services have become a routine since 2005, there have been a few occasions when the authorities did not resort to this step as part of the security drill in Kashmir.

The security agencies added this step to the security drill after militants triggered a blast outside the Bakshi Stadium during the Independence Day parade in 2005.

The authorities have been clamping down on mobile services in times of trouble in Kashmir.