Protests, shutdown in Kashmir as trucker killed in Udhampur attack laid to rest

Srinagar: The fragile peace in the Kashmir valley was once again broken on Monday after protests broke out even as the funeral of the truck conductor who died in Udhampur petrol bomb attack was conducted at his native village in Anantnag district.

Groups of protesters clashed with security forces at many places despite curfew-like restrictions in eight police station limits and the preventive custody of separatist leaders.

The situation remains tense across the valley with traffic on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway getting severely affected due to clashes in Anantnag; rail traffic was halted in Kashmir from Banaihal belt.

Protests had erupted in Anantnag yesterday after conductor Zahid Ahmed Bhat succumbed to injuries at a Delhi hospital.

Bhat and another Kashmiri from Anantnag district, Showkat Ahmad Dar, 35, sustained serious injuries when their parked truck was attacked by a mob with a petrol bomb at Udhampur town on the Jammu-Srinagar highway.

Zahid's body, which was brought here from Delhi in a state aircraft, was taken for burial in a large procession by residents of Batengoo, his native village in South Kashmir's Anantnag. He was buried in the ancestral graveyard in the village amidst sloganeering by the mourners.

A youth was seen carrying a Pakistani flag during the funeral procession which passed off peacefully as authorities had made stringent security arrangements. The official said the restrictions imposed in Anantnag police station area were eased to allow the people to participate in the funeral.

However, soon after, clashes broke out between protesters and police personnel in Anantnag and some adjoining areas, police said.