A complete shutdown was observed in Tral township of Pulwama district on Wednesday against the killing of a local Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant.
All shops and other business establishments were closed inthe town while as public transport was off the roads to mourn the militant’skilling.
A top Jaish-i-Muhamad (JeM) commander and his associate werekilled in a gunfight with the security forces in Bijbehara town in Anantnagdistrict on Tuesday.
Police identified the slain Jaishcommander as Fayaz Ahmad ofPanzoo village of Tral. The second militant killed in the encounter, who wasalso active with JeM, has been identified as Shanu Showkat of Kanelwan villageof Bijbehara.
On Wednesday people continued to throng the native villageof Fayaz in Panzoo here to participate in his funeral prayers. He was laterlaid to rest at his ancestral graveyard.
Contingents of police and CRPF troopers were deployed in thetown to thwart any protests.
Authorities also suspended Internet service in Tralsub-district on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, security forces on Wednesday afternoon restoredto aerial firingin Arihal village of Pulwama districtafter locals staged aprotest.
As per witnesses, locals staged protest in Arihal after armysoldiers allegedly abused a local shopkeeper.
Followingthe protest, army thrashed several civilians andalso damaged the property of locals, alleged the local residents.When contacted, defence spokesman Rajesh Kaliadenied the locals’ statement. “Army has neither thrashed anyone nordamaged anyone’s property. The allegations from locals are totally baseless,”he said.