Situation peaceful in Kashmir, curfew relaxed in five towns

SRINAGAR: Barring a stray incident of stone pelting in Sopore town of north Kashmir, the situation in the Valley remained peaceful with authorities relaxing curfew in five towns of Kupwara and Ganderbal districts on Tuesday.

A group, which had gathered on the Sopore-Kupwara road at Seeloo, 65 kms from here, in Baramulla district pelted stones at a security force vehicle, official sources said.

The security forces lobbed tear gas shells and fired in the air to disperse the protestors, resulting in minor injuries to one person, they said.

The situation has been brought under control and the injured youth has been discharged from the hospital, Sopore Superintendent of Police Altaf Ahmad said.

A police spokesman said that no untoward incident had been reported from anywhere in the Valley since last night.

Curfew was relaxed for five hours in Trehgam, Kralapora and Kupwara in north Kashmir from 9 AM to 2 PM, the spokesman said.

He said the restrictions were also eased in Ganderbal and Kangan towns in central Kashmir from 11 AM to 1 PM.

The relaxation period in all these areas has been peaceful so far.

No relaxation of restrictions has been announced in the Srinagar city so far, the spokesman said.

Restrictions under Section 144 CrPC, which were in place in Budgam district since Sunday, have also been lifted, he said.

Curfew was imposed in Srinagar city on September 12 and was extended to the entire Kashmir Valley next day following widespread violence.

Kashmir Valley has been in grip of violent protests since June 11 when a 17-year-old boy was killed after he was hit by a tear smoke shell during clashes at Rajouri Kadal in interior city.

Meanwhile, majority of schools in the Valley remained opened for the second day today but attendance of the students was low in the wake of incidents of violence in the city yesterday in which 10 school buses were damaged.