Curfew in Sopore, separatist shutdown in Srinagar

Srinagar: An indefinite curfew was imposed in Sopore town in Kashmir Tuesday following the death of a youth in security force firing Monday.

Heavy deployments of police and paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) blocked road crossings, using coils of concertina wires, in the town to enforce the curfew. Shops, public transport, businesses and educational institutions remained closed. The separatists have called for a protest shutdown in Srinagar. A youth identified as Arshad Ahmad Shah was killed Monday in firing by security force personnel when protestors attacked security forces at the site of a gunfight where a foreign guerrilla was killed and his local aide arrested. Four people also sustained gunshot injuries in this firing incident. In Srinagar city, markets, other businesses and educational institutions remained closed, though marginal public transport operated in the Civil Lines area. Government offices, banks and post offices, however, functioned normally in all other major towns of the Kashmir Valley. No untoward incident has been reported from anywhere in Kashmir so far although security forces are on high alert.