Authorities today imposed restrictions in several areas in Kashmir and placed many separatist leaders under house arrest in view of a strike called after the death of a trucker, who was critically injured in a petrol bomb attack in Udhampur 10 days ago.
Strict restrictions have been imposed on movement of people in Anantnag and Bijbehara police station areas in South Kashmir, a police official said.
Similar restrictions have been imposed in six police station areas of Srinagar — M R Gunj, Nowhatta, Safa Kadal, Maisuma, Rainawari and Khanyar.
Public Safety Act was slapped against five of the seven people arrested in the case. Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Shabir Ahmad Shah are among several separatist leaders placed under house arrest, the official said
At least three Kashmiri truckers were reportedly set on fire in Udhampur on October 9 over the discovery of abandoned carcasses of three cows—later found to have died in an accident—in a stark reminder of the recent Dadri lynching incident, where 50-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq was killed over rumours of storing and consuming beef.
Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed termed Bhat’s killing as “dastardly”.
One more precious life has been lost to the politics of hate and intolerance that is posing a grave challenge to the State and the country’s plurality. Under no circumstances shall those guilty of this barbaric crime be allowed to go unpunished.
— Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, Chief Minister, Jammu and Kashmir
Five of the seven accused were booked under the stringent Public Safety Act in Jammu, hours after Bhat’s death.
Omar Abdullah, the former chief minister and National Conference working president, blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the death.
The news of Bhat’s death sparked spontaneous protests in south Kashmir. Separatists also reacted angrily over the death and blamed the PDP-BJP government.
The so-called rulers of Jammu and Kashmir are directly responsible for this murder as they in their lust for power have handed over the State to fanatics of the RSS. Indian Muslims are also under attack from these forces and recently two innocents have been murdered by these chauvinists backed by the rulers at Dadri and Himachal Pradesh.
— Yasin Malik, Chief, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front
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