Srinagar: Police and security forces will remain visible in all the sensitive areas of Srinagar and Hyderpora on Sunday also as the authorities have decided to keep the restrictions they have imposed on the ground after the death of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a senior police officer said.
Police have said that there would be restrictions on the assembly of people across Kashmir valley on Sunday also, though the strict restrictions and the heavy presence of police and security forces could manage the situation on the ground as there was no incident of violence at any place in Kashmir, said senior police officers who are monitoring the ground situation. The main face of separatism Syed Ali Shah Geelani died at his residence at Hyderpora in Srinagar on 1 September, and immediately police and security forces cordoned the area, snapped the mobile telephone services and internet. He was under house arrest for more than a decade at his Hyderpora residence as Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti as the chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir decided to keep him confined to his home in order to avoid public protests.
They also managed to bury him in a local graveyard at Hyderpora and did not allow people to assemble for his burial including his family members. However, police told media in Srinagar that some of his relatives were allowed to take part in his burial. After a security review meeting, the authorities on Friday evening decided to restore mobile telephone services and fixed line internet services across Kashmir. Only BSNL’s broadband and fiber lines were working in Kashmir valley.
On Saturday, there was heavy presence of security forces in and around the residence of Syed Ali Shah Geelani at Hyderpora and they had put barricades to stop the movement of people in and around the area. Political parties and leaders have expressed their sympathies with the bereaved Geelani family, including Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah and Sajad Lone.