Restriction to continue till Sunday 21 July, 2013 in Kashmir

KASHMIR, Srinagar: Director General of Police, Ashok Prasad Friday said restrictions would continue till Sunday evening.

“Whether curfew would be imposed or not is a secondary question but one thing is clear that restrictions on the movement of people would be there at least for three days till Sunday when strike would be over,” Prasad adding that, it is better to restrict the movement of people than to put them in danger.

He said that the police have no option but to impose either curfew or restrictions to avoid casualties. “What can we do in a situation when separatists call for strikes and protests? We are for the protection for the people and we have to take measures to avoid loss of life,” Prasad said.

He said that overall the situation in Valley remained peaceful in Valley on Friday. “There were protests in Shopian, Baramulla and Ganderbal but they were of lesser intensity. We are going to impose restrictions for at least three days till Sunday,” Prasad said.

Ashok Prasad while replying to a question said that militants were always present in Srinagar city. “Was there any time when militants were not present in Srinagar city. Militants keep on changing their hide outs and usually all the attacks carried by militants in Srinagar were done by those who had come from outside,” he said adding that last year 71 militancy related incidents were reported while as this year only 50 such incidents are being reported so far.