Separatists gave strike call over a ‘conspiracy against the people of the Valley’; 65 women targeted since September; police take note of rumours on social media

A shutdown called in protest against the government’s failure to nab the miscreants forcibly cutting off the braids of unsuspecting women in Kashmir paralysed life in the Valley on Monday.

The police had to rescue a few people from outside the Valley who faced the wrath of the residents on being mistaken for the attackers.

Educational institutions, offices and commercial centres remained closed. Train services in south Kashmir was halted for the day.

The authorities placed areas in the limits of seven police stations in Srinagar under severe security restrictions to contain street protests. Security forces used smoke shells to disperse protesters at Batamaloo, where a woman’s braid was cut on Sunday.

The shutdown call was issued by separatists, alleging a conspiracy against the people of the Valley.

A minor was injured in a protest in Pulwama, where a mob hurled stones on vehicles. Sifti Hyder, 5, was seriously injured after a stone hit him on the head, the police said.

Meanwhile, the police said they took cognisance of rumours spread on social media about attacks on women. An FIR has been lodged to identify the persons involved in fabricating news, the police said.

Four rescued

Despite the police action, the mass hysteria induced by the hair-cutting incidents continues to leave innocent people vulnerable to people’s anger.

Four persons, mistaken as braid-choppers, were rescued by the police at Nowgam on Monday.

A 2,000-strong mob surrounded these rag-pickers and heckled them before the police intervened.

“No angle of braid-chopping was established,” a police spokesman said.

On Sunday, even foreign tourists came under attack over suspicion. Six of them who lost their way in Srinagar, were rescued by the police in the early hours of Sunday.

Three Australians and one person each from England, South Korea and Ireland were on their way to Srinagar from Leh in a vehicle when they lost their way while using Google Maps, a police official said.

According to police records, the first incident was reported on September 14 from Kulgam district, a hotbed of militancy.

Since then, as many as 65 incidents have been reported across the Valley with Kulgam accounting for 30 cases, followed by adjacentShopian. No one has been arrested though 35 FIRs have been filed.