Shutdown hits life in north Kashmir

A complete shutdown is being observed in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Wednesday against the killing of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat activist Sheikh Altaf-ur-Rehman by unidentified gunmen early Tuesday. 

Hurriyat (G) chairperson Syed Ali Geelani called for the shutdown.

Shops and other business establishments in almost all major towns of the district remained closed to protest the killing of Mohammad Altaf Sheikh, an activist of Syed Ali Shah Geelani-led Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.

Sheikh, a pharmacist in the health department, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at a bus stand in Sopore on Tuesday.

Following this, Geelani had claimed that Sheikh was an activist of his Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Kashmir outfit.

Indian secret agencies were responsible for the killing of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat activist in Sopore, Geelani said in a statement

Geelani said the ‘Indian agencies, by this way, actually want to frighten and terrorize the people who are on the forefront of the freedom struggle of Kashmir.’

Police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in strength especially in sensitive areas like Sopore and Pattan townships to maintain law and order, the officials said.

Meanwhile, the police have registered a case and launched an investigation into the killing.