Life was disrupted due to separatist-sponsored shutdown and restrictions imposed by the authorities across Kashmir valley on Saturday.
Srinagar District Magistrate Farooq Ahmad Lone said restrictions were imposed in the areas of Rainawari, Khanyar, Nowhatta, M.R. Gunj and Safa Kadal to maintain law and order.Heavy contingents of police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were also deployed.Train services between Baramulla and Bannihal towns were suspended. Exams scheduled for Saturday were postponed by Kashmir University.Shops, public transport and educational institutions remained closed.The shutdown was called to protest the killings of three militants and as many civilians.Top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander, Junaid Mattoo and his two associates were killed in a gunfight with forces in Anantnag district.Two civilian protesters- a 22-year old youth, a 14-year old boy-were killed in firing by the forces where protesters tried to break the cordon around the gunfight site.Over two dozen other protesters were injured in the protests
Meanwhile, Police on Saturday claimed to have recovered three bodies of militants killed in an encounter with government forces in Arwani village of Bijbehara in Anantnag district.A spokesman said that three Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, including its District Commander Junaid Mattoo, were killed in the firefight on Friday. Mattoo was a resident of Redwani village.The other two slain militants were identified as Nasir Wani of Heff village of Shopian and Adil Mushtaq Mir of Frestbal Pampore."Acting on a specific information, police alongwith 1 RR and 90 Bn CRPF launched an operation in Makro Mohalla of Arwani Bijbehara. During the operation , militants present in the area fired upon the search parties with automatic weapons. The fire was retaliated, and an encounter started," said the spokesman. The bodies of militants were handed over to respective families while reports said that thousands of mourners participated in their separate funeral processions.
Thousands of people participated in the funeral prayers of slain Lashkar-e-Toiba militant Adil Mushtaq Mir in Frestbal area of Pampore in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The funeral prayers were held at a local ground where mourners braving heat and fasting continued to pour in from various parts of south Kashmir.At least five militants appeared in the funeral, which was attended by thousands of people, and offered a gun-salute.Tens of thousands of people on Saturday participated in the funeral prayers of slain Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Junaid Mattoo in Khudwani village of Qaimoh tehsil of Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir.At least four funerals were held for Mattoo at a local Eidgah as mourners continued to pour in from various parts of south Kashmir.Thousands of mourners also participated in the last rites of third militant Naseer Ahmed Malik at Hefshermal Shopain. The mourners chanted massive pro-freedom slogans. (CNS)