Kashmir: Amarnath Yatra Suspended After Top Hizbul Man’s Death

Internet services in the Valley have been suspended to check the spreading of rumours by anti-social elements.

Amarnath Yatra was suspended on Saturday morning in view of tension in the Valley following the killing of top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on Friday.

The yatra has been suspended from Jammu base camp. No fresh pilgrims will be allowed to proceed towards the Valley on Saturday.

A police official

Though the yatra will continue from Pahalgam and Baltal base camps in Kashmir, the pilgrims would be advised to stay put at these camps till further advisory on their movement is issued, the official added.

In addition, authorities suspended mobile internet services to check the spreading of potentially incendiary rumours by anti-social elements. They also imposed restriction in the entire district of Pulwama and in the towns of Ananatnag, Shopian, Pulgam, and Sopore.

In Srinagar, restrictions have been imposed in areas falling under seven police stations, which include Nowhatta, Khanyar, Rainawari, M.R. Gunj, Safakadal, Maisuma, and Kralkhud. All school board exams scheduled for the day have been postponed.

Train services from Baramulla in Kashmir region to Banihal town in Jammu have also been suspended.

Wani, along with two associates, was gunned down by the security forces on Friday. His burial could not take place then as authorities feared a law and order situation. Scores of people, using different mode of conveyance, tried to reach the area of gunfight in south Kashmir’s Kokernag area and Tral town, to which Wani belonged.

Meanwhile, the separatists including the hardliner Syed Ali Geelani, moderate Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, and Asiya Andrabi, the radical chief of women’s separatist outfit, have called for a valley-wide shutdown to protest Wani’s killing.

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Burhan Wani: The Face of Kashmir’s New Insurgency