Srinagar, Aug 24: Life across the Valley returned to normal for a day on Tuesday as per the Hurriyat (G) program even as authorities also lifted the curfew. However, protests continued in Pattan where a youth succumbed to injuries on Monday.
Despite heavy rains, people thronged market places, grocery stores, ATMs, fuel stations, ration depots to stock the essentials in view of the holy month of Ramadhan.
Schools, colleges, banks, private and government offices opened while the traffic on all the routes in Srinagar and to other towns and district headquarters also resumed.
The commercial hub of the Lal Chowk and its peripheries witnessed massive traffic snarls during the day.
The traffic police had a tough time manning and managing the traffic.
At Singhpora and Kripalgarh in Pattan, nearly six persons were injured when police and paramilitary CRPF lobbed tear smoke shells and fired warning shots to disperse people protesting the killing of 22-year old Bilal Ahmad Sheikh of Kripalgarh on Monday.
Bilal was injured at Singhpora, Pattan, in the CRPF firing on August 14 on a protest demonstration.
People from the area and its neighbourhood poured onto streets and staged protests on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway raising pro-freedom and anti-India slogans.
Police and CRPF used force after people attempted to block the highway. The protesters pelted forces with stones triggering ding-dong battles which continued intermittently throughout the day.
The south Kashmir’s Islamabad town witnessed a normal day but in the afternoon people in Khanabal area of the town took to streets and protested against the detention of the youth earlier in the day by the police. The protesters which included women also staged a sit-in and blocked the K.P road near Khanabal Chowk for hours. However, the protests were later called off after the youth was released.
Reports of a normal day’s working also poured in from Pulwama, Shopian, Varmul, Sopur, Bandipora and other areas.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:00:00 IST