Curfew in more areas of Kashmir Valley, flag march by Army

SRINAGAR: Curfew was today clamped in more areas of the Kashmir Valley which witnessed stray incidents of violence as the Army carried out a flag march in Srinagar to maintain law and order.

Sopore town and old parts of Baramulla were placed under curfew as a precautionary measure, official sources said.

Curfew was also being enforced strictly in Srinagar, where three persons were killed in alleged firing by security forces on Tuesday.

The sources said that there was no curfew in Baramulla town, Handwara, Shopian, Ganderbal and Budgam.

A group of protestors had attempted to gather in Batmaloo area of Srinagar during the night but were peacefully dispersed by the security forces, they said.

Protestors had also tried to attack a bus carrying new police recruits in the outskirts of Srinagar but the attempt was thwarted.

The Army had yesterday moved 17 columns (about 1,700 personnel) into various parts of the city to assist the civil administration in maintaining law and order.

Srinagar, which was bustling with tourists before the trouble started, looked like a lifeless city with empty streets, closed shops and deserted shikaras amid the heavy presence of security forces.

The state government had sought help of the Army in the wake of spiralling protests in the city.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had yesterday spoken to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over phone and briefed him on the law and order situation in the Valley.

Omar had apprised the Prime Minister about the steps being taken in restoring normalcy which included cracking down on mischief-makers and miscreants, sources said.

The Chief Minister had also spoken twice to Home Minister P Chidambaram and also to Defence Minister A K Antony about the developments.

Union Home Secretary G K Pillai, who had flown in here yesterday from Delhi along with Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen A M Verma, had met the Chief Minister and reviewed the overall law and order situation.

Newspapers fail to hit the stands in Kashmir Valley

SRINAGAR: Newspapers today failed to hit the stands in the Kashmir Valley in the wake of imposition of curfew following violence.

The state government had yesterday cancelled curfew passes for media personnel restricting their movement.

The last time the newspapers did not come out was in 2008 during the height of the Amarnath land agitation. Publication of dailies at that time was suspended for four days.

Newspaper publication had also remained suspended for days during elections in 1996.

A representative body of major print and electronic journalists in the valley, Kashmir Journalists Corps (KJC), today condemned the restrictions on media persons and said that it was a "direct attack on the fourth estate".