SRINAGAR: In a partial shutdown, shops remained closed and public transport stayed off roads in

Srinagar

and south Kashmir on Thursday following previous night’s arson and appearance of threatening posters in the city’s downtown areas. On Wednesday night, miscreants had set on fire four shops, as many street carts and a cab.

Srinagar district magistrate Shahid Iqbal Choudhary on Thursday issued a strict warning to miscreants, who were threatening residents of the district. The DM urged people to immediately report instances of intimidation at local police stations, assuring them that action would follow immediately and that the miscreants would be dealt with sternly.

Police said cases had been registered in all the incidents of fire and that investigation was on. Those involved in burning of these properties would be arrested soon, police said, adding that these incidents showed the ‘frustration’ of the people who wanted to prolong the shutdown in Kashmir.

Shops and public transport, however, plied normally in north Kashmir on Thursday, reports said.

All shops, business establishments and public transport, including cabs, had started functioning normally since November 16 after almost 100 days of shutdown starting August 5 when Parliament took the decision to nullify

and reorganize the state of J&K into two Union Territories. However, the problem resurfaced after Union home minister

announced in the

on Wednesday that the situation in Kashmir had become normal.

Soon after Shah’s Parliament remark, miscreants pasted posters at several places in the city, threatening people to observe shutdown in the Valley. Not just that, they also set on fire shops, carts and a cab, sources said.

Public transport mostly stayed off city roads and some south Kashmir areas in reaction to the burning down of a Tavera vehicle (cab) in Nawa Kadal area of

on Wednesday night.

Similarly, shops and other business establishments in many areas of south Kashmir and Srinagar district, including commercial hub

, remained closed on Thursday following the burning down of shops and appearance of threating posters the previous night.

Reports said that four shops were gutted in a fire incident in Bohri Kadal area of Srinagar. “The incident took place on Wednesday evening around 7pm,” an official source said, adding that the cause of the blaze was being ascertained.

The source further said that four carts of street vendors were set on fire in Soura area of Srinagar around 10.30pm on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, police in Awantipora arrested an associate of a terrorist for his involvement in threatening and intimidating locals in

area. He has been identified as Asif Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Larow Jageer, Tral.