Curfew relaxed in Kishtwar; all party delegation arrives

With no fresh report of any untoward incident in the district, authorities on Monday relaxed the curfew for four hours in Kishtwar.

Kishtwar: With no fresh report of any untoward incident in the district, authorities on Monday relaxed the curfew for four hours, while an all party delegation arrived here to assess the ground situation in the wake of communal clashes of August 9. "The curfew has been relaxed for four hours from 10 AM to 12 PM and from 1 PM to 3 PM in separate areas of Kishtwar district today, it passed off peacefully," District Magistrate Baseer Khan said. There was no report of any untoward incidents from anywhere during the past 24 hours in the district, he said.

Four member ministerial team, led by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, had returned back from Kishtwar after holding two separate meetings with leaders of the two communities yesterday to forge communal harmony. On a fact finding mission, the all party delegation arrived here this evening. They will hold talks with both the communities and listen to their views and try to bring the two communities close. A ministerial team, led by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, visited the district to review security and also held talks with members of the two communities to normalise the situation and end tension. Curfew was imposed in Kishtwar on August 9 after communal clashes broke out in which three persons were killed, over 20 others injured and 75 business establishments along with 35 vehicles gutted. PTI