Curfew remained in force in entire Srinagar district and Anantnag town on Saturday to thwart the separatists' plan to stage a two-day sit-in in the city centre even as the death toll in the ongoing unrest climbed to 56 in the Valley with the death of a youth injured in firing.
'Viewed militarily, the cease-fire puts the brakes for sure on the hard fought dominance that our security forces have achieved.' 'The ensuing weeks will witness their losing ground to the terrorists,' fears Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Militants shot at and killed a Sarpanch (village headman) in Gulzarpora village of south Kashmir Pulwama district, part of the Anantnag parliamentary constituency which goes to polls on April 24.
In the stone-pelting, SSP Doda, one SHO, one sub-inspector and two other police personnel were injured.
'The second wave was more virulent, more aggressive, more transmissible.'
Waiz-ul-Islam, 19, of Srinagar's Bagh-e-Mehtab locality and Mohammad Abbass Rather, 32, of Hakripora village in Pulwama district were arrested by the NIA, the official said.
A junior commissioned officer (JCO) and two militants were killed, while four policemen were injured in an encounter between security forces and ultras in Kralpora area of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir.
"Areas under the jurisdiction of police stations of district Srinagar -- Batamloo, Bemina, Qamarwari, Kralkhud, Nowhatta, Khanyar, M.R. Gunj, Safakadal, Maisuma, Shaheedgunj and Abi-guzar area of police station, Kothibagh will remain under curfew from 6 am till further orders," District Magistrate, Srinagar, Mehraj Ahmad Kakroo said.
If this trend continues, 2018 may end up as the worst year in terms of number of youths joining various terror groups, according to the officials.
A police official said the curbs have been imposed to maintain law and order in view of the separatists call for a march to the three districts of Baramulla, Pulwama and Srinagar.
Mohammad Iqbal Rather, 25, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam, had allegedly facilitated the movement of Muhammad Umar Farooq -- a member of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed and the key conspirator in the case -- after he infiltrated into the Indian territory in the Jammu region in April 2018, a spokesperson of the NIA said.
Saifullah, who had taken command of the outfit after the killing of Riyaz Naikoo in May this year, was one of the most wanted terrorists in the Kashmir Valley and involved in several attacks on the security forces, an official said.
A resident of Uttarakhand's Badena village, Singh had joined the army in 2016 and is survived by his parents.
A total of 146 militancy-related incidents took place between January 15, 2015 to January 15, 2016, leaving 169 people -- 108 militants, 39 security personnel and 22 civilians -- dead. A total of 181 incidents of border firing were reported during the same period in the state which left 22 persons including eight security personnel dead and 75 others, including 13 security men injured
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.
Bikash Mohapatra presents a kaleidoscope of views from Jammu and Kashmir, where the five-phase polling for its six seats ended last week.
Following the arrest of a top terrorist who had made a video of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval's office, it has come to light that Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad is planning a strike in Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbag Singh said on Sunday.
The attack came on a day when the union home minister, Rajnath Singh is arriving in the valley to review the states security situation.
After nearly a week, curfew was lifted on Sunday in the entire Kashmir Valley in view of the situation remaining generally peaceful but prohibitory orders have been imposed in Baramulla, Anantnag and Pulwama districts besides some parts of Srinagar, officials said.
After four days of violence and deaths, Kashmir was today relatively incident-free even as more violence-hit areas were brought under curfew in South Kashmir where 3 youths were killed in alleged CRPF firing.
The manner in which assembly seats were distirbuted among Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh so far, has ensured that residents of the Valley rule the state forever, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
'Respect the pledges you have made to the people of Kashmir.' 'Jammu and Kashmir is not like any other state of the country.'
Last week's heavy snowfall seems to have affected electioneering in Kashmir. South Kashmir's Anantnag and the prestigious Srinagar constituencies go to polls on April 24 and April 30 in the five phased Lok Sabha polls in the state.
Fate of 271 candidates including two former chief ministers -- Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Ghulam Nabi Azad -- would be sealed on Wednesday, as 16 constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir go to polls in the sixth round of the seven-phase assembly elections.As many as 20,000 additional security forces personnel and nearly 10,000 local policemen have been deployed at 1,268 polling stations set up in the 16 assembly seats spread over five districts.
Intense clashes between stone-pelting youth and security forces also rocked Jamia Masjid and adjoining areas in Srinagar shortly after Friday prayers.
It is often alleged that half the Indian Army is based in J&K. It is bewildering why there has been no rebuttal or clarification of this issue from the central or state governments, or from the army itself, wonders Ajai Shukla.
Most of these new recruits came from Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam districts in South Kashmir, which had become the hub of tech-savvy, young militants.
Clashes between protesters and law enforcing agencies were reported from Sopore, Anantnag, Rajpora, Shopian towns and Safakadal area of the city.
Clashes broke out between youths and security forces in several areas of Srinagar and Anantnag districts after Eid prayers on Friday even as separatist leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq were put under house arrest as a precautionary measure.
The BSF opened fire in Pakharpora near Charar-e-Sharif area to quell stone-pelting protesters in which at least one person was killed and five injured.
"He was one of the oldest militant and wanted for several terror-related crimes," police told PTI.
With this phase, election will be over in 424 seats and polling in the remaining 118 seats will be held on May 12 and 19.
Curfew was lifted in most parts of Kashmir from Monday and it was completely withdrawn two days ago.
Singh, who is on a four-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, said that a permanent solution to Kashmir issue is based on five 'Cs' -- compassion, communication, coexistence, confidence building and consistency.
Normal life remained paralysed for the 37th consecutive day due to curfew, restrictions and separatist sponsored strike.
Peoples Democratic Party continued to play the guessing game on the issue of forming the new government with its ally Bharatiya Janata Party by saying on Friday that it cannot put a time frame for it.
Intense clashes had rocked Kashmir Valley in 2016 following the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July that year, resulting in the death of over 85 people.
