Curfew on as Hurriyat set on march to UN office

Curfew was clamped in the Batmaloo area of Srinagar and Sopore town on Tuesday while prohibitory orders remained in force in the rest of the Kashmir valley ahead of a march planned by separatists to the United Nations Military Observers Group Office for India and Pakistan in Srinagar.

Curfew was imposed in Batmaloo in central Srinagar and Sopore in North Kashmir as a precautionary measure while restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC are being strictly enforced in rest of the valley, the police said.

They said the step was taken ahead of a call given by the moderate Hurriyat Conference headed by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq to take out a procession to the UNMOGIP office at Sonawar.

The police and paramilitary troops were patrolling the deserted streets to maintain law and order in the valley.

The Mirwaiz, who was placed under house arrest on Saturday when he tried to lead a protest demonstration in the old city, had given a call for a march to the UNMOGIP from the martyrs graveyard at Naqashband Sahib to hand over a memorandum to UN representatives seeking to implement the resolutions passed by the UN for resolving the Kashmir issue.

Besides Mirwaiz, senior executive member of the Hurriyat, Aga Syed Hassan Alsafvi Almosvi, has been placed under house arrest. Hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani is already under detention.

The Geelani-led faction had also planned a rally from martyrs graveyard to Eidgah to pay homage to 22 the people who died on July 13, 1931, during the Dogra rule.