NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR: In further easing of the two month-long lockdown in Kashmir, top officials in the security establishment on Friday said the ban on postpaid mobile services in the Valley could soon be lifted, possibly as early as Saturday.

Sources said while all postpaid services were likely to be restored across the Valley, it might be some time before mobile internet was restored. The Valley has 40 lakh postpaid subscribers out of 66 lakh mobile users.

Mobile use will help intelligence gathering

The decision to restart post-paid mobile services, expected to be announced by J&K principal secretary Rohit Kansal at a press conference in Srinagar on Saturday, will come within days of the J&K government lifting restrictions on tourists visiting the state. Allowing post-paid services is also aimed at avoiding any inconvenience to tourists, who may include foreigners keen on winter tourism, on account of the continuing communication lockdown.

The resumption of mobile services is likely to come as a big relief to Kashmiri people who until now had to depend on landlines to communicate. While there were concerns that restarting mobile services would lead to a surge in terror activities and possibly fan unrest, sources indicated that the positive side was that it would boost technical intelligence, based on which the J&K police and security forces can track terrorists better and step up counter-operations.

Mobile services in Jammu & Kashmir were shut down on August 5 after the Centre announced abrogation of special status guaranteed to the state under Article 370 of the Constitution. Partial fixed line telephony was resumed in the valley on August 17, and by September 4 all landlines, numbering nearly 50,000, were declared operational.

