I-Day: Mobile internet services restored in Kashmir

Srinagar, Aug 15: Internet services on mobile devices were restored in the Kashmir Valley on Saturday after remaining suspended for several hours as a precautionary measure on the occasion of Independence Day.

Mobile internet services were cut in the early hours of the morning as stringent security arrangements were put in place for Independence Day celebrations across the Valley, a police official said.

Though the services were snapped as a precautionary measure, mobile phone services, which used to be suspended for the duration of the Independence Day ceremony, functioned as usual, he added.

The internet services were restored later in the day as the official function was over at Sher-e-Kashmir cricket stadium here, the official said.

Suspension of mobile phone services and internet on mobile devices as part of the security drill have become routine since 2005, apart from a few occasions. Security agencies added this step to the security drill after militants triggered a blast outside the Bakshi Stadium during the Independence Day parade in 2005.

Services are also snapped in a district if there is an encounter going on there to prevent miscreants from assembling crowds near the gun battle scene.

The government had imposed a ban on SMS services in the state following the 2008 Amarnath Land Row agitation, the 2010 summer agitation and after the hanging of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru.