Internet and movement restrictions in the Kashmir Valley have been intensified as authorities arrested several protesters on Friday demonstrating against the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The ongoing curbs on internet services have caused significant distress among the local population, including businessmen, traders and professionals who rely heavily on high-speed internet for their routine operations.
The curbs entered their sixth day on Friday, with authorities describing them as a preventive measure to maintain public order and a peaceful environment amid the rapidly evolving and hostile developments in West Asia. Authorities have imposed restrictions on both high-speed internet services and public movement across the city.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday held a meeting with civil society representatives and religious leaders as part of efforts to restore normalcy after the situation had escalated between security forces and protesters.
Educational institutions have been shut across the Valley as a precautionary measure until Saturday. A heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces, including the CRPF, was seen guarding key and sensitive locations in the city and across the Valley. CRPF personnel were deployed across the city in the early hours to prevent gatherings of protesters, officials said.
They also said that concertina wires and barricades were placed at important intersections leading into the city, while asserting that these were precautionary measures to maintain law and order.
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