In a bid to end street protests, police have launched a massive crackdown against "hooligans and miscreants" in Kashmir and arrested nearly 500 youth from across the Valley.

"In its continuous drive against hooligans and miscreants, 349 accused persons have been arrested in the Valley," a police spokesman said.

The spokesman said 122 persons have been detained under "prohibitory provisions of law".

More than 50 persons have been killed, including two policemen, and nearly 6000 others injured in the ongoing street protests in Kashmir since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani and his two associates in an encounter with security forces on July 8.


Initially, the authorities imposed curfew across the Valley to curb the protests but the strategy failed as more and more people took to the streets.


A senior police official said the security agencies are using video footage and photographs to pinpoint the "trouble mongers and instigators" among the protestors. "We have deployed some personnel in uniform equipped with cameras for recording the incidents of stone pelting and pinpoint those instigating the protests during the analysis of the footage available," the official said.