Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Feb 10: Commercial activities came to a halt in Valley’s business hub, Lal Chowk, due to restrictions imposed by police to scuttle a proposed separatist rally of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) on the eve of hanging anniversary of group’s co-founder and militant ideologue Mohammad Maqbool Bhat.
Since early morning, police had sealed the entry and exit points of Lal Chowk and its adjoining Budshah Chowk, Regal Chowk and Maisuma by erecting barbed wires while large posse of security forces personnel including Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were deployed all across the commercial hub.
Due to restrictions, the shops and other commercial establishments in Lal Chowk remained closed while the transport was also diverted from alternate routes, resulting in intermittent traffic jam. However, the pedestrians were partially allowed to pass through the Lal Chowk by police.
Dozens of JKLF activists converged at Sarai Bala – meters away from Lal Chowk – and staged a protest seeking mortal remains of Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru who were buried in Tihar Jail of New Delhi after their execution. The protesters were holding picture of both Bhat and Guru and attempted to march towards Lal Chowk.
However, a large contingent of police additionally deployed near Amira Kadal bridge foiled separatists’ march and detained nearly a dozen of the JKLF activists. There was, however, no violence during the protest. Soon after JKLF protest, police eased the restrictions in the Lal Chowk but commercial activities continued to remain disrupted.
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