Authorities Sunday suspended mobile internet service across Srinagar district for at least two hours following “intelligence inputs” that militants may strike at security forces’ convoys along the Srinagar-Jammu highway, officials said.
A senior police officer confirmed to Greater Kashmir thatthere were “significant inputs” suggesting that militants may target securityforces’ vehicles travelling on the highway in Srinagar between 7am to 8am.
“The suspension of internet (in Srinagar district) was aprecautionary measure. We had put all our installations and security forcespersonnel deployed on ground on a high alert and they will continue to remainso until the general elections are over in Srinagar,” he said, wishing not tobe named as he wasn’t authorised to speak to media.
The officer said the “input” suggested that militants mayuse a bike or a vehicle and target security forces on thePanthaChowk-Batwara-Tatoo Ground stretch in Srinagar.
“Extra security measures were put in place along this routeto foil any attack by the militants,” he said.
Talking to Greater Kashmir, inspector general of CentralReserve Police Force (Srinagar sector) Ravideep Singh Sahi said there wereinputs about militant movement in Srinagar in the morning.
“Since it was the convoy day on the national highway, weacted swiftly by sounding an alert across the district and increased our areadomination drill as well,” he said.
Stringent restrictions were put in place along the nationalhighway and nobody was allowed to move from PanthaChowk towards Nowgam orBatwara.
“Huge traffic snarls were witnessed at PanthaChowk crossingas security forces personnel were thoroughly checking the identity cards ofcommuters,” said Umar Rashid, a resident of Pampore. Several women were alsostopped at the crossing for at least 15 minutes. They were seen pleading beforethe security forces to allow them to proceed as they had to admit an infant atthe GB Pant children’s hospital at Sonwar. They were later allowed to moveahead.
Locals from Nowgam area also complained that they had towalk miles by foot to reach Rambagh crossing.
“The highway closure has brought endless miseries for us,”said a resident of Nowgam. Barbed wire was placed on roads at Batamaloo also toensure that no civilian vehicle crosses the point towards the highway stretch.
According to the state home department’s order, civiliantraffic has been barred on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway andSrinagar-Baramulla highway twice a week—Sunday and Wednesday. The order willremain in vogue till May 31.
In southern Kashmir, the Srinagar-Jammu highway was thrownopen at 4pm. A witness said a fewtourist vehicles were seen plying on the Awantipora-Lethpora stretch aftermagistrates issued them travel permits. Several private clinics running on Sundays remained closed at mostplaces falling along the highway.
“Patients couldn’t reach these clinics, particularly inAnantnag. The doctors also could not reach there, putting hundreds of patientsto inconvenience,” local residents said.
Several students also couldn’t attend their IGNOU classes in Srinagar and elsewhere due to national highway closure.
IRFAN MALIK