Panic gripped in Pattan town of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Saturday when a pistol borne masked youth in a bid to enforce shutdown in the town allegedly fired a bullet in the air. Witnesses told CNS that life was normal in the town while transport was plying smoothly on the roads and all the shops and business establishments were opened when a masked youth carrying a pistol appeared in the market and fired a shot in air.The bullet sound rocked the town forcing shopkeepers to down their shutters while vehicles disappeared from the road. Pertinently, different hamlets of Pattan town including Palhalan, Goshbugh, Usuan, Chandergeer, Chandarhama were observing shutdown against the death of a local militant while life in the main town was normal.
The incident forced business community to suspend their business for the day.Station House Officer Pattan Javaid Ahmed while downplaying the incident said that few youths set fire crackers in the town to scare the traders. “No pistol borne youth emerged in town as we had deployed the cops in strength,” he said.Meanwhile, another North Kashmir town Sopore and its adjacent areas also observed complete shutdown to mourn the death of the local militant Altaf Ahmed who along with his associate Imtiyaz Ahmed was killed in an encounter with forces on Friday afternoon. (CNS)