Cellphones jammed in Valley, ahead of PM's visit

For the first time, Jammu and Kashmir government authorities on Monda,y jammed the mobile phone services, minutes after the arrival of the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh in Srinagar on Monday afternoon.

The authorities had issued instructions to all the service providers in Kashmir to block their services in summer capital Srinagar as a security measure. The jamming of the service inconvenienced thousands of subscribers. There was total confusion as subscribers tried to contact their friends and relatives without success throughout the day.

A senior police officer said the services will remain unavaialable till the prime minister's departure to Delhi on Tuesday afternoon.

Police sources said militants had in the past carried out cell phone triggered explosions in the valley which led to this safety measure being introduced.