Separatist-sponsored strike and restrictions imposed by authorities ensured disruption in normal life in Kashmir valley for the 69th day on Thursday even as one more youth injured in clashes last week succumbed, raising the toll during the ongoing unrest to 79.
According to the officials privy to the development, Centaur Hotel, owned by the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), has submitted a bill of nearly Rs 3 crore to the home department for over 100 days of boarding and lodging of the detenues.
Curfew was imposed in Nowhatta, M R Gunj, Safakadal, Khanyar, Rainawari, Nigeen, Lal Bazaar, Zadibal and Parimpora police station areas on Wednesday after sectarian clashes broke out in Hawal area of the city.
Curfew was on Monday lifted from the entire Valley except three police station areas 51 days after it was clamped to maintain law and order.
The talks between Singh and Esper came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with US President Donald Trump.
State capital Lucknow shuddered at 0.7 degrees Celsius, while Bahraich recorded a low of 0.2 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature across the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh Union Territory stayed several degrees below the freezing point, intensifying the cold wave in some areas in the region, an official of the Meteorological Department said. He said Srinagar city recorded the low of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius last night, down from minus 5.8 degree Celsius the previous night.
Authorities have imposed curfew or restrictions on movement of people in most parts of Kashmir Valley to foil plans of separatists to hold protests demanding handing over of the body of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru to his family.
The grenade blast which killed a protester took place at Brakpora village in Anantnag district of south Kashmir.
Barring parts of Srinagar city, Anantnag and Pampore towns, curfew was on Saturday lifted from Kashmir even as normal life remained disrupted due to the strike called by separatists.
The encounter broke out after three motorcycle-borne terrorists opened fire on CRPF personnel posted at a mobile checking unit in Shalteng in Parampora, officials said. The captured terrorist is Umar Fayyaz of the Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK), he said.
Maulana Showkat Ahmed Shah, chief of the Ahli-Hadees organisation in Jammu and Kashmir, was killed in a powerful bomb explosion outside a mosque in Maisuma locality near Srinagar's city centre Lal Chowk on Friday afternoon.
Stressing on "progressively" decreasing the footprints of security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said conciliation and dialogue will always remain the best medium for seeking a solution to all contentious issues.
The snowfall has set in cold wave like conditions in the Valley as electricity supply in many areas was snapped as a precautionary measure, they said, adding that dewatering pumps were made operational in the city to avoid waterlogging.
Unprecedented security measures were taken across Srinagar city, including Bharatiya Janata Party's professed flag-hoisting venue Lal Chowk and parade ground Bakshi stadium to ensure that the Republic Day was celebrated peacefully.
Militants on Saturday triggered a blast targeting an army vehicle near Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir but the troops escaped unhurt. However, the vehicle was damaged in the Improvised Explosive Device blast.
Moulvi Showkat Ahmed Shah, head of the Ahli-Hadees organisation in Jammu and Kashmir, was killed in a powerful bomb explosion outside a mosque in Maisuma locality near Srinagar's city centre Lal Chowk on Friday afternoon.
Curfew-like restrictions were imposed in Srinagar city on Sunday to prevent people from taking out Muharram processions to mark the eighth day of the 10-day mourning period.
Doval called upon the paramilitary forces and police and civil administrations to 'win hearts and minds of the people'.
Curfew was on Sunday lifted from many parts of Kashmir Valley while authorities announced relaxation of curfew in Srinagar city, where curbs had been re-imposed in the wee hours of Sunday, following incidents of stone pelting. Curfew has been lifted from Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian and Awantipora towns in south Kashmir and Handwara town in north Kashmir, a police spokesman said. While curfew has been lifted from Budgam district in central Kashmir.
Indefinite curfew was clamped on Sunday in Srinagar and six other towns of Kashmir Valley in view of several incidents of arson and violence on Saturday, official sources said.
Police blamed activists of hard line faction of Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Muslim league headed by underground separatist leader Masrat Alam Bhat for carrying out the incidents of arson as part of a pre-planned conspiracy to disrupt Eid celebrations.
Normal life remained disrupted for the 24th consecutive day due to the strike call given by separatists against civilian deaths during the protests.
Malik said that some ministers have been talking about taking back PoK from Pakistan by force.
Curfew was clamped in parts of Srinagar, Kupwara and Kralpora towns and restrictions were imposed on people's movement in Hyderpora and Budgam towns on Sunday in view of a shutdown call by separatists across the Kashmir Valley.
The curbs on assembly of people were put in place in the police station areas of Nowhatta, Khanyar, Rainawari, Safakadal and Maharaj Gunj in downtown (interior) areas and in Maisuma in Srinagar, as well as in Shopian town.
In Srinagar city, prohibitory orders have been imposed in areas falling under 13 police stations of Nowhatta, Khanyar, Maharajgunj, Rainawari, Safakadal, Soura, Lalbazar, Nigeen and Noorbagh in old city and Batmaloo, Maisuma, Kralkhud and Shaheedgunj in uptown, police said.
Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday started the process of removing 16 security bunkers from Srinagar city as part of the Centre's peace initiatives to reach out to the people of the Valley.
While local Kashmiris are busy working out ways and means to brave the harsh winter with night temperatures falling to minus 6.6 degrees Celsius in Srinagar city and minus 9.0 degrees in the foothill villages of north and south Kashmir areas, scientists are engaged in a hot debate about the real causes for the present harsh winter in the region.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police have registered a case against Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference, over burning of government properties by a mob during a protest rally in Srinagar, official sources said. An FIR was registered against the Mirwaiz at Shergarhi police station in Srinagar city under sections 121, 121-A, 153, 153-A, 336 and 446 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), the sources said.
Heavy snowfall has blanketed Kashmir, bringing relief to the residents from dry weather. The snowfall, which began in the late afternoon on Friday, has continued in most parts of the valley, said officials, adding it is one of the heaviest snowfalls in the recent years in the plains of Kashmir.
Hardline separatist leaderSyed Ali Shah Geelani was released on bail after his day-long hospitalization while in detention. Geelani complained of chest pain this morning in the Srinagar central jail, where he was shifted yesterday, after being arrested from outside the Kashmir University campus in Srinagar city on Wednesday.
All educational institutes across the state are closed for the second consecutive day, the officials said.
The all-time low recorded in the month of December in Srinagar is minus 12.8 degrees Celsius on December 13, 1934.
Srinagar city along with the rest of Kashmir was buzzing with activity on Saturday with offices, shops and other business establishments opening in the Valley which saw return of normalcy after 133 days of shutdown as separatists suspended their stir for the weekend.
Mobile Internet services continued to remain snapped in the Valley.
Separatist leader Masarat Alam Bhat on Thursday denied waving Pakistani flag at a rally organised to welcome his senior Syed Ali Shah Geelani in Srinagar, but said it was a representation of the feelings, aspirations and sentiments of the people across Kashmir.
Curfew was imposed on Friday morning in seven police station areas of Srinagar district as a precautionary measure, a police official said.
Authorities have imposed curfew-like-restrictions in parts of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday to scuttle the protests called by separatists on the death anniversary of the pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front founder Maqbool Bhat.
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