Internet services restored in Kashmir after brief blockade due to Afzal death anniversary

PTI photo

Srinagar: Internet services restored in Kashmir on Sunday evening after it was blocked by the authorities as a precautionary measure to prevent any law-and-order scenario on the seventh death anniversary of Parliament attack mastermind Mohammad Afzal Guru. 

After the abrogation of Article 370, the mobile internet services were restored last month, however the broadband services still remain suspended.

The separatist Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and All Party Hurriyat Conference had called for a bandh in Kashmir on Afzal Guru's death anniversary. It is to be noted that February 11 was also the death anniversary of Maqbool Bhat who was the founder of the organisation National Liberation Front (NLF). 

Indian police, meanwhile, have launched FIR against JKLF for calling the bandh.

As per officials, the 2G mobile internet services were suspended in the early hours on Sunday as the authorities apprehended violence in the valley in view of the bandh.

A complete shutdown is being observed across Kashmir as part of the bandh called by these outfits. Normal life has been thrown out of gear as shops and business establishments remained closed in Srinagar. Public transport is also off the roads. 

Afzal Guru was convicted for his role in the 2001 Parliament attack and was hanged inside Tihar jail on February 9, 2013, whereas, Maqbool Bhat was hanged on 11 February 1984 in Tihar Jail following his conviction for the killing of a police official.