Shutdown cripples JK again

A shutdown called by the hardline separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) against the alleged molestation and murder of a college girl in north Kashmir Kupwara district once again crippled normal life across the valley on Friday.

Shops and are shut in capital city where educational institutions, government offices, banks and public transport are also closed. However, skeletal private transport is plying on roads in capital Srinagar and other towns were security is tight.

Friday's strike called by the hardline APHC headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani against the alleged molestation and murder of 20-year old Amina Masoodi in the Dolipora village of Kupwara district by a trooper of the Territorial Army (TA) who has been detained by the police.

The autopsy of the girl was done by a team of doctors from the forensic science department of government medical college here yesterday.

After the initial refusal to bury the body of the victim unless the autopsy reports were made public, the district authorities persuaded the relatives to bury the body late last evening.

Kupwara district magistrate has ordered closure of all the educational institutions in the district for two days as a measure to pre-empt student violence. The local action committee of the residents has called for a three day shutdown in the district.
Tension is still high in the uptown city areas including the Maisuma locality, following the murder of an undergraduate student, which had triggered massive violence on Wednesday.