Curfew reimposed in many areas ahead of Friday congregations

Srinagar, Sep 9 (PTI) Curfew was today reimposed in manyparts of Kashmir for maintaining law and order ahead of Fridayprayers. Normal life remained paralysed for 63rd consecutive dayin the unrest-hit Valley where 73 persons have been killed andseveral thousand others injured in the violence which eruptedafter Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani was gunned downby security forces. "Curfew has been imposed in many parts of Srinagar cityand major towns of the Valley as a precautionary measure inview of apprehensions of violent protests after Fridayprayers," a police official said. He said 14 police station areas of Srinagar — the summercapital of Jammu and Kashmir — and towns of Anantnag,Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian, Pampore, Awantipora, Tral,Baramulla, Pattan and Palhallan have been placed under curfew. There are restrictions on the movement and assembly ofpeople in rest of the Valley, he said. Normal life remained crippled due to curfew and theshutdown call by separatists groups. While shops, business establishments and petrol pumpscontinued to remain shut during the day, markets in Srinagarand other places came to life late in the evening yesterday inview of the 12-hour relaxation in the strike from 6 PMannounced by separatists. The separatists have extended the shutdown programme tillSeptember 16. Schools, colleges and other educational institutions inthe Valley continued to remain closed. The attendance in government offices and banks, which hadimproved significantly over the past four days, dipped todayowing to curfew and apprehension of violence. The roads and streets, which had witnessed increasedmovement of private vehicles in recent days, wore a desertedlook and public transport continued to be off the roads. PTIMIJRT