Afzal Guru hanging: Fourth day of curfew in Kashmir Valley

A curfew is in its fourth day in Indian-administered Kashmir to contain unrest after a man was executed for plotting to attack India’s parliament.

Afzal Guru was hanged on Saturday for the December 2001 attack after his clemency plea was rejected.

Authorities have blocked roads to Guru’s hometown of Sopore after separatist groups threatened to march there on Tuesday to mark his death.

Three youths have died during violent clashes in Kashmir against the hanging.

Guru, who had been on death row since 2002, was executed at Tihar jail in Delhi. He was buried in the prison grounds.

Cable television, mobile and internet services remain blocked in most parts of Kashmir as hundreds of security forces enforce a strict curfew to prevent more violence.

It has also been very difficult for local journalists to do any reporting on the situation as no curfew passes have been issued to them, says the BBC’s Riyaz Masroor in Srinagar.

The family of Guru, who were not informed before he was executed, have rejected the Indian government’s offer to visit his grave in Tihar jail.

“Afzal Guru’s body should be brought to Kashmir, nothing short of that,” said Guru’s wife Tabasum.

Meanwhile, fearing a backlash after the death of a young man who was shot during protests against the execution on Sunday, all police and security forces have been asked not to carry firearms while dealing with angry crowds.

Guru had denied any involvement in the events of 13 December 2001 when five militants stormed the Indian parliament, killing a gardener and eight policemen before they were shot dead by security forces.

He was found guilty of arranging weapons for the attackers and of membership of the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group, both of which charges he denied.

India blamed the attack on Jaish-e-Mohammed, which it said was backed by Pakistan.

Pakistan denied involvement in the attack but relations between the two countries nosedived as their armies massed about a million troops along the border.

Claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan, Kashmir has been a flashpoint for more than 60 years and two wars have been fought over it.