Cold wave tightened its grip further in Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region as minimum temperatures in most places dipped several degrees below the freezing point.
Troops noticed suspicious movement along the LoC in Keran sector in Kupwara district.
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.
The separatist Hurriyat Conference is finished in Jammu and Kashmir but attempts are being made to keep it alive from Pakistan, Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said on Monday, adding that the militancy in the region is "on crutches".
The stage is set for the second phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir which will seal the fate of 175 candidates, including the deputy speaker, four ministers and 11 other sitting MLAs, amidst tight security in Kulgam and Kupwara districts following the murder of a sarpanch by militants.
Here are the latest updates from the Valley.
In the last three years, the Union Territory administration has invoked 311 (2)(c) of the Constitution to sack more than 50 employees, who were allegedly operating in shadows within the government and drawing a salary from the public exchequer, however, they were helping Pakistani terror outfits, providing logistics to terrorists, propagating terrorists' ideology, raising terror finances and furthering secessionist agenda, officials said.
The weekly flea market opened in Srinagar on Sunday as several vendors put up their stalls on the TRC Chowk-Polo View axis, the officials said.
Large parts of north India reeled under numbing cold on Tuesday with the mercury remaining below freezing point at most places in Jammu and Kashmir, while dense fog in the early hours of the morning hit road and rail traffic movement.
Intense cold conditions prevailed in parts of north India on Sunday as the mercury plummeted to minus 12.6 degrees Celsius in Leh, while the Kashmir valley braced for possible snowfall over two days from Monday
Cold wave conditions remained unabated as the night temperature across Kashmir continued to stay below the freezing point with forecasts for dry spell.
Admitting that several party workers, most of them lower-rung activists, have resigned over the last few days following the recent attacks on BJP panchayat members and sarpanches, a BJP leader said some were from Budgam district in central Kashmir.
In a major arms haul, alert Indian army troops recovered 40 weapons from near the Line of Control in the Farkian Gali area of north Kashmir's Kupwara district on Saturday.
Army troops on Thursday foiled an infiltration bid on the Line of Control in Uri sector of north Kashmir Baramulla district eliminating five intruders.
A total of 3,372 nominations have been filed for 1,145 wards. The next phases take place on 10th, 13th and 16th October.
There was some respite in cold conditions in Kashmir as the mercury went up by several degrees at most places after four days of virtual free fall.
Troops noticed suspicious movement along the LoC and challenged the intruders, leading to a gunfight.
Mercury continued its free fall in Kashmir division as Leh in Ladakh region recorded the coldest night this winter with a minimum temperature of minus 16.3 degrees Celsius.
The Udhampur-based northern command is committed to eliminate the scourge of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, the Army said on Tuesday, as it paid tribute to four soldiers who died in a gunfight with heavily armed terrorists in Doda district.
The police spokesman said the LeT terrorist has been identified as Sajad Ahmad Shah, a resident of Gund in Chogul area in north Kashmir's Kupwara district.
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.
Cold wave continued in Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region as the minimum temperature in most parts settled below the freezing point, with the frontier town of Kargil being the coldest place in the state at over minus 19 degrees Celsius.
It added that there had been several reminders from the club to the government for freeing the communication of newspaper offices, journalists and the club itself.
The denizens of Kashmir division experienced bone chilling cold as the night temperature in most places including summer capital Srinagar slipped below the freezing point, compounding the problems of those affected by the recent floods.
The mercury continues to be in a free fall in Kashmir and Ladakh divisions as Leh was the coldest recorded place at minus 17.4 degrees Celsius in the state.
Fresh snowfall disrupted normal life in Jammu and Kashmir, where an avalanche warning was issued in five districts, higher reaches and tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh and the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand on Monday.
The army on Monday foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control in Kupwara district of north Kashmir, killing two militants while three army jawans were also killed.
Life in most parts of Kashmir started limping back to normalcy after remaining paralysed for five days due to strikes and protests.
Even as India battles the COVID-19 threat on a war footing, it cannot lose sight of the threat building up in Kashmir, cautions Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
With the operation getting fiercer by the minute, more troops have been called in.
Delhi is likely to record its second-coldest December since 1901 as temperatures are predicted to drop further.
In a development that may raise an alarm in the security establishment, flags of dreaded terror outfit ISIS along with those of Pakistan were today raised in Kashmir after which police promised a thorough probe and legal action against those involved.
Delhi recorded a cold wave for the second consecutive day on Friday, with the minimum temperature at Ayanagar in southwest Delhi plunging to a numbing 1.8 degrees Celsius.
Pahalgam and Gulmarg were the only recorded places in the Valley where the mercury was below the freezing point.
Private cars have come under stone-pelting at many places as the miscreants want to enforce shutdown.
Search operations were on in the area.
Brisk voting was witnessed in the north Kashmir's district of Kupwara that voted in its five constituencies in the third phase on Sunday under intense security. Voting in all the five constituencies of Karnah, Kupwara, Lolab, Handwara and Langate began on a low key but picked up later as temperature rose breaking the morning chill.
Srinagar recorded a low of minus 3.2 degrees Celsius, an increase of two degrees from the previous night's minus 5.2 degrees Celsius, a spokesman for the MET department said in Srinagar.
The army chief also complimented the troops on ground for showing maximum restraint even in the face of grave provocation.
'.. if the cost is its own survival,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
