VIDEO: Security tight in Kashmir for 'black day' anniversary
Senior police officials along with other security personnel cordon off the area at Nowhatta Chowk, Srinagar. Photo: Umar Ganie
Gulf Today Report
Hundreds of extra police and troops were deployed in Indian-administered Kashmir on Thursday as separatist groups called for a shutdown to mark a "black day" on the second anniversary of New Delhi imposing direct rule.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since 1947 with both claiming the territory in full. Fighting in the past two decades in the Indian-controlled part has left tens of thousands dead, mostly civilians.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government scrapped the region's partial autonomy on August 5, 2019, and split it into two federal territories.
Thousands were arrested, scores of whom remain behind bars two years on.
Ahead of the second anniversary, security forces erected numerous new checkpoints and barricades across Srinagar, with personnel in bulletproof gear checking vehicles and frisking residents.
Suspected rebels fired live shots in the air in the heart of the congested old town Srinagar where a low intensity explosive device also went off, witnesses said.
In the Sopore area unknown rebels fired at police as authorities tried to force shopkeepers observing the shutdown to open their doors, an officer told reporters.
District police denied the incident took place however in a post on Twitter.Top separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, 90, had called for a general shutdown to mark a "black day." The call was supported by several smaller separatist groups who also challenge India's rule over Kashmir.
