Over 100 arrested in Kashmir, 1 cop injured in stone-pelting incident

Mangalore Today News Network

Kashmir, Aug 07, 2019 : Over 100 people have been arrested in Kashmir after the Centre announced abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, Yahoo reported.

 

Security forces arrested over 100 people, including political leaders and activists, as they were considered a threat to peace and tranquillity in the Kashmir valley, officials were quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.

The arrests came hours after Article 370, which granted a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was scrapped and the Centre bifurcation of the state into two Union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Barring stray incidents of stone-pelting, the situation was "comfortable" in all the three regions of Jammu and Kashmir, officials told PTI on Wednesday.

A senior official of the Jammu and Kashmir administration said some shops had opened in Srinagar and the movement of people on the roads had picked up despite the restrictions. The official added that the "situation was comfortable now".

Stating that there were "very few incidents of stone-pelting", the official said people were moving on two-wheelers and cars as well.

Several video clips from Kashmir have gone viral on social media platforms showing people opening shops, walking, driving motorcycles and cars on the roads of Srinagar.


COP INJURED IN STONE-PELTING

One clip showed people purportedly from the border district of Kupwara saying they wanted peace and were happy at the decision of the government to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 in the state as it would remove political corruption. They also said the situation was peaceful in their area.

An incident of stone-pelting was reported from Poonch district’s Baflaiz during protests against the government’s move, resulting in minor injuries to a police officer, officials said.

Restrictions are in places in all the districts in the Jammu region, including Jammu city, the Jammu and Kashmir officials said, and added that all educational institutes remained closed across the state.


SHUTDOWN IN KARGIL

A shutdown was observed in Kargil town in protest against the scrapping of the provisions of Article 370.

Ratan Lal Zutshi, a Kulgam resident, said the situation was peaceful and the highway traffic normal as he drove from Srinagar to Jammu.

Private taxi drivers were fleecing people, mostly outsiders, by charging them Rs 2,500-3,000 per person to drop them at Jammu, but instead, they were being dropped at the Jawahar tunnel, Zutshi said.