Restrictions in Kashmir before Wani's death anniversary

Authorities imposed restrictions in parts of Kashmir on Saturday as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order on the eve of the second death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, even as a strike called by separatists evoked a mixed response in the Valley.

Restrictions have been imposed in Tral township, in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, and in the Nowhatta and Maisuma police station areas of Srinagar – the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, a police official said.

He said the curbs have been imposed as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order and to avoid any untoward incident.

Wani, a resident of Tral, was killed in an encounter with security forces in the Kokernag area of south Kashmir's Anantnag district on July 8, 2016.

His killing triggered massive protests and prolonged period of curfews and shutdowns across the Valley. As many as 85 people were killed and thousands were injured in clashes between security forces and protesters over four months.

The official said security forces have been deployed in strength at sensitive places across the Valley.

Meanwhile, the strike called by separatists against the shifting of Asiya Andrabi, the chief of radical women's outfit Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM), to Delhi by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), evoked a mixed response in the Valley on Saturday.

The separatists, under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), had on Friday called for a strike to protest the shifting of Andrabi and her colleagues.

The JRL – comprising Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik – appealed to the people to "observe a complete shutdown and maintain civil curfew".

While shops and other establishments were shut in the city centre Lal Chowk, business continued as usual in other areas of the city, the official said.

He said public transport was sparse, but private cars, cabs and auto-rickshaws were plying in many areas of the city.

The official said similar reports of a mixed response to the strike were received from other district headquarters of the Valley.

Cracking a whip on separatist leaders ahead of Wani's death anniversary, the police had on Friday detained Malik in a police station, while Mirwaiz was put under house arrest. Geelani continued to remain under house detention.