Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have blocked mobile internet services in parts of the state after two youth, identified as Javaid Ahmad and Suhail Ahmad, were killed in army firing on Saturday.
This was after separatist conglomerate, Joint Resistance Leadership, headed by Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, called for a protest across the valley on Sunday to protests the killing of Javaid and Suhail, reported IANS.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has reportedly spoken to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is believed to have assured her that she will seek a detailed report from the army.
“The chief minister said every civilian killing, notwithstanding how erroneously made, impairs the political process in the state, which has been put on track after hard work by all political parties,” an official spokesman was quoted by PTI.
Javaid and Suhail were killed while nine others injured on Saturday when security forces opened fire after an army convoy came under “unprovoked and intense stone pelting” in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district.
The Indian Army, according to a report by IANS, said in a statement that the administrative convoy was passing through Ganaupura chowk when it came under “unprovoked and intense stone pelting” by a group of 100-120 people.
Curfew has been imposed in parts of state capital Srinagar, while shops and business establishments are closed in most parts of the Valley, reported NDTV. The public transport is also off road due to the shutdown.
Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah termed the deaths of two civilian ‘terrible’ for the state adding that it had cast its ‘ugly shadow far too often already.’
In a series tweets, Abdullah wrote, “2 civilians dead & many others injured. The first month of 2018 has been a terrible one for J&K, death has cast its ugly shadow far too often already. Deaths along the border with Pakistan in Jammu & deaths in Kashmir. I can only pray that the rest of the year doesn’t go this way.
“Our security forces have also paid a heavy price already this year. I don’t think I’m wrong when I say this is the worst start to a year we’ve seen in more than a decade.”