Jammu under siege before arrival of Centre's delegation

Jammu, Aug 9 (UNI) Winter capital city of Jammu was put under complete siege today before the arrival of 18-member-all party delegation, headed by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, to assess the situation in the wake of ongoing agitation over Amarnath land row.

Civil administration also withdrew its order for three hours curfew relaxation in the midnight as a preventive measure for checking any untoward incident during the visit of high-profile delegation, an official spokesman told UNI.

During its two-day tour, the delegation will visit both Jammu and Kashmir regions, the spokesman said.

The delegation comprises Union Ministers Saifuddin Soz, Sriprakash Jaiswal, Prithviraj Chavan (all from Congress), Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) and A Raja (DMK) while Arun Jaitley (BJP), Amar Singh (SP), Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), D Raja (CPI), Mohsina Kidwai (Congress), Farooq Abdullah (NC), Mehbooba Mufti (PDP), K C Tyagi (JD-U), Naresh Gujral (SAD), Akhthar Hassan (BSP) and R C Paswan (LJP) will be the other members.

It was decided at an all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on August 6 to send a delegation to assess the unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.

The curfew-bound Jammu is witnessing complete shutdown for the last 18 days while the agitation under the banner of the Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti completes 40 days.

Getting stronger on its stand for restoration of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board in south Kashmir, the Samiti has extended Jammu Bandh till August 14 and also decided to boycott the delegation if Dr Abdullah, Ms Mufti and Prof Soz join it.

According to the Samiti, these leaders are the root cause of unrest in the state.

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