Curfew imposed in Sher-e-Khas in Srinagar

Srinagar, Oct 11 (UNI) Curfew was imposed in the areas falling under three police stations in the Sher-e-Khas (SeK) in the summer capital since early this morning.

The curfew has been imposed at a time when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in town to flag off the first ever train in Kashmir at Srinagar railway station at Nowgam, 10 km from here.

A spokesperson in the Police Control Room (PCR) said the curfew had been imposed in the areas falling under police stations M R Gunj, Safa Kadal and Nowhatta as a precautionary measure.

She said the step was taken to prevent any loss of life or damage to property.

The spokesperson said curfew would be relaxed after reviewing the situation in the afternoon.

Official sources said situation was though under control but tense in the SeK following the death of two people and injuries to scores in security forces firing and teargassing at Nowhatta yesterday during pro-freedom processions.

One Shakeel Ahmad, a resident of Nowhatta said large number of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and police personnel have been deployed to strictly enforce the curfew restrictions.

Even we were not allowed to bring milk from a house across the road, he said.

Shakeel said the bread makers were not allowed to open their shops by the security forces.

Similar reports were received from other parts of the SeK also.

This is for the second time during October that curfew had been imposed in the some parts of the city. On October 5 morning, an indefinite curfew was imposed in the entire Kashmir valley to foil Lal Chowk 'chalo march' on a call by Coordination Committee (CC), spearheading the present agitation in Kashmir.

UNI BAS JT PM1045