Shops, business establishments are closed and very few vehicles are seen on the roads. (PTI photo)
Curfew-like restrictions have been imposed in parts of Srinagar city in the wake of a call for strike by separatist groups to commemorate the death anniversary of Maqbool Bhat, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front or JKLF founder who was hanged in Delhi 32 years ago.
Most of the areas have been barricaded with barbed wire as hundreds of security forces personnel and anti-riot squads have been deployed to prevent protests. Separatists have either been arrested or put under house arrest.
Officials say restrictions have been enforced in areas under seven police stations of the city, mostly in downtown Srinagar.
In other parts of the valley, a complete shutdown is being observed. Shops, business establishments are closed and very few vehicles are seen on the roads.
Maqbool Bhat was hanged on February 11, 1984 in Delhi's Tihar Jail and his body was buried inside the jail. Since then family and political groups have been demanding return of mortal remains so that family and relatives can perform his last rites.
At Srinagar's martyrs graveyard an empty grave has been kept with Maqbool Bhat's epitaph. Bhat's hanging is believed to be reason behind an armed rebellion by Kashmiri youth in late 80s. JKLF became Kashmir's first militant group but after few years in early 90s it announced a unilateral ceasefire and eventually abandoned militancy.