Four Amarnath pilgrims died due to cardiac arrest en route to the cave shrine in Kashmir Himalayas over the past three days, taking the death toll in this year's pilgrimage to 15, officials said in Srinagar on Sunday.
A young man was killed and two others injured in firing by the Central Reserve Police Force on Saturday during protests in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir where a strike has been called by the hardline Hurriyat faction against the killing of two youths in Tral earlier this week.
Clashes also broke out at several places in Kashmir on Tuesday, leaving several persons injured.
The President's rule imposed in undivided Jammu and Kashmir was revoked on Thursday following the state's bifurcation into Union Territories, but the central rule will continue for an indefinite period through the Lieutenant Governor (LG) in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
Abdullah said he knows only of his son Omar Abdullah and another former CM Mehbooba Mufti's arrest that too through the media.
Three Hyderabad-based cousins, who allegedly planned to join "jihadi terror groups", were on Saturday picked up from Nagpur international airport while on their way to Srinagar, months after they were put under watch for being influenced by online Islamic State propaganda.
The court also extended the custody of Iqbal, Mushtaq and Mir till April 10 on a plea by the police. The Delhi Police said that the accused were required to be interrogated further to identify the other persons involved. "The custody was required to ascertain the identity of other handlers," the police told the court.
The three soldiers are being quizzed on suspicion that they might have knowingly or unknowingly leaked information about Aurangzeb's movements.
'My request to Amit Shah would be "Please do not use archaic laws and muscle power against voices that have always stood by India.".'
Private cars have come under stone-pelting at many places as the miscreants want to enforce shutdown.
The authorities had on Tuesday lifted curfew across Kashmir except from six police station areas of the city.
R K Birdi, the Border Security Force commanding officer arrested in Srinagar last week in connection with the killing of a 17-year old schoolboy was on Monday admitted to the BSF hospital in Srinagar, after he complained of chest pain.On Saturday, Birdi was remanded to ten days judicial custody by the chief judicial magistrate in Srinagar and subsequently he was shifted to the high-security central jail.Official sources said that Birdi complained of chest pain today morning.
Several leaders of moderate Hurriyat Conference, including its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, were placed under house arrest by the authorities in Srinagar after the separatist amalgam said it will visit the family of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru.
The scuffle broke out after the India-West Indies cricket match on March 31 in the university, where only last month a rumour over cooking of beef by some Kashmiri students led to protest on the campus following which four Kashmiri students were arrested.
Restrictions have been imposed in five police station areas of Srinagar, a police official said.
Protests rocked parts of Kashmir Valley including Srinagar on Saturday where Pakistan and Islamic State flags were yet again displayed by masked youths after Eid prayers.
Shakeel Ahmad Bhat, who shot to fame as the face of youth anger in Kashmir during protests in 2008 and 2010, has been released after four years of detention under Public Safety Act.
Pak had realised in 2018 that Hurriyat Conference, the separatist conglomerate created by Inter-Services Intelligence, won't be able to deliver any more
The encounter broke on Monday when the terrorists opened fire on an army convoy, on its way to Srinagar, at Qazigund on Jammu-Srinagar national highway. One soldier was killed in the attack while another sustained injuries.
Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track down the assailants but no arrests have been made so far, the officials said on Monday.
Four Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT) terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces on Monday in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
The Jammu and Kashmir government on Sunday arrested two police officials and attached a district police chief and his deputy in connection with the 'mysterious disappearance of a local villager' in Srinagar.
The cabinet normally meets on every Wednesday and the reasons for convening a meeting on Monday has not been disclosed by the government yet.
The Dutch national, who was arrested on Saturday on charges on murdering a British woman inside a houseboat in Srinagar, was on Sunday remanded to 10-day police custody by a local court. De-Wit Richard was produced before a magistrate at his official residence by the police, which sought his custody.
Security forces on Saturday busted a Lashker-e-Tayiba module in Sopore in north Kashmir with the arrest of four militants.
The J&K police's 81 medals are the maximum awarded to any police force this year, followed by the CRPF's 55.
The NIA had arrested seven persons on July 24 in the case of alleged funding of terror and subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley to fuel unrest.
Opposition leaders also raised the issue of MPs not being allowed to visit Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of its special status, whereas parliamentarians from Europe have been taken to the state, with Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury describing the EU delegation as 'bhade ke tattu' (hirelings).
Authorities in J&K have imposed strict restrictions in parts of summer capital Srinagar which is already under a thick security blanket ahead of Independence Day.
Geelani, chairman of hard-line Hurriyat Conference, also tried to defy the house arrest and lead a march towards the UNMOG.
Restrictions imposed on people's movement and communication links in the Kashmir Valley are being eased out in a phased manner and the normal situation in the Jammu division has been restored after assessment by relevant local authorities.
A detailed investigation done by the NIA and other security agencies indicated that over 40 virtual SIM cards were used in the Pulwama attack alone, and there are probably more of them floating in the cyberspace of the valley.
The Jammu and Kashmir police has formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the terrorist-cop nexus unearthed recently.
Some burqa-clad militants on Friday opened fire in a busy market in Pulwama, about 35 kms from Srinagar, when confronted by police, leaving three civilians, including two women injured, police said.
Tantray was out on a parole since 2015. He was the mastermind of a suicide attack at Srinagar airport earlier this year.
In a goodwill gesture, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah spoke to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitely and invited party members, who were arrested for trying to enter the state, to attend the Republic Day function either in Jammu or in Srinagar.
The Jammu and Kashmir police on Thursday confirmed that the three Lashkar-e-Tayiba militants arrested by the Delhi police had been on their radar for quite sometime.
Drama heightened on Friday when the army said that Pakistan-based terrorists are planning to target the ongoing Amarnath Yatra followed by the Jammu and Kashmir administration issuing an advisory, asking the yatris and tourists to "curtail" their stay in the Valley and leave immediately.
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.
In a letter to the Jammu and Kashmir DGP, Abdul Rashid Shora said, "I am under a constant threat of life from my daughter Shehla Rashid Shora who is supported by the elder daughter namely Asma Rashid and my wife namely Zubaida Shora as well as her security guard namely Sakib Ahmad. This threat perception started in 2017 when Shehla jumped all of a sudden into Kashmir politics."
