Shops briefly open in Srinagar, private transport on roads

Shops opened for few hours early Thursday morning in some areas here including in the commercial hub of Lal Chowk but main markets and other business establishments remained shut, officials said.

Few vendors had set up stalls on the TRC Chowk-Polo View road, they said.

Private transport was plying unhindered in the city here and elsewhere in Kashmir, the officials said, adding auto-rickshaws and few inter-district cabs were also seen plying in few areas of the valley.

However, the other modes of public transport were off the roads.

Schools and colleges were open, but students stayed away as parents continued to keep their wards at home due to apprehensions about their safety, the officials said.

Mobile services were restored in Kashmir on Monday, but the SMS facility was snapped once again later that night due to apprehensions of the services being misused.

Internet services -- across all platforms – continued to be snapped in the valley, they added.

Normal life has been disrupted in the valley following abrogation of Article 370 on August 5.

Most of the top level and second rung separatist politicians have been taken into preventive custody while mainstream leaders, including two former chief ministers -- Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, have been either detained or placed under house arrest.

Another former chief minister and sitting Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah has been arrested under the controversial Public Safety Act.