A police officer said here that angry protesters took to the streets and hurled stones at security forces, prompting authorities to re-impose curbs on people at places where peace was breached.
The government had lifted the curfew from various places in the restive valley on Tuesday. But as soon as people were allowed to move, clashes broke out in Srinagar and at some other places in southern Kashmir.
The curfew was, however, not lifted from south Kashmir amid fears that a separatist-called march to Kulgam town may trigger more violence.
All link roads and entry points to the south of the valley were closed and no traffic was allowed on the Jammu-Srinagar highway that runs through the region, the worst-hit in the unrest since July 8 which has left nearly 50 people dead and thousands injured.
Senior separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, in house detention, defied the restrictions and came out of his residence in the upscale Hyderpora neighbourhood.
Police took Geelani, chairman of the hardline Hurriyat Conference faction, into preventive custody. He was briefly lodged at a nearby police station.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat faction, was also detained after he tried to march towards Kulgam, breaking the security cordon around his house here, an aide said.
Earlier, in Srinagar, while the curfew was lifted from most parts, the restrictions continued in some parts of the old city where a 61-year-old man died on Tuesday evening after losing control of his motorcycle during a clash between protesters and security forces.
According to the police, the retired government employee was injured in his head.
The separatists had asked people to start normal activities for some hours from Tuesday afternoon. But angry youths showed up at various places in Srinagar and elsewhere, forcing the shops to remain shut.
Protesters, mostly teenagers, blocked the main roads and lanes in downtown Srinagar with tree trunks, cement pipes and huge rocks.
They fought pitched battles with police and security forces till late in the night. Such clashes were reported from some 40 places of the old city, according to the police.
Security forces exercised restraint and did not use firearms but fired tear gas and pellet guns. Dozens of youths were injured.
Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Mohamed Yousuf Tarigami said Pakistan’s appeal was increasing in the Kashmir Valley and that New Delhi must talk to Islamabad to resolve the dispute.
The lone Communist member of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Tarigami also described the current unrest in the valley as a reflection of “a much deeper sense of alienation” from India.
Saying militancy in the state now had a new face, Tarigami told the CPM journal People’s Democracy that the slogan of ‘azadi’, “which means an independent Kashmir, has a huge attraction.”
“At the same time, Islamisation is taking place. Pakistan’s appeal is also increasing. Until now this was not so,” said Tarigami, a member of the CPM’s Central Committee. “Militants now have much wider support.”
A policeman uses his shield to cover himself from rain as he patrols a deserted road during a curfew in downtown Srinagar yesterday.
