Hundreds of protesters clashed with police in Srinagar on Friday, said reports, even as India maintained that it had taken measures to ease restrictions in the Kashmir Valley. According to AFP, the police resorted to tear gas shells and pellet-firing shotguns to disperse the crowd.
The news agency claimed that the clashes broke out after several thousand people rallied in Srinagar after the Friday prayers. No injuries have been reported.
“Protesters hurled stones and used shop hoardings and tin sheets as improvised shields, as police shot dozens of rounds into the crowd,” the report said.
According to AFP, sporadic clashes were reported from other parts of the Valley, too.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam said on Friday that most phone lines in the Valley would be gradually restored over the weekend and schools would reopen area-wise next week.
He said offices of the Jammu and Kashmir government in the Valley functioned normally on Friday and the attendance in many offices was "quite high".
Kashmir has been under tight security lockdown ever since India revoked the special status of the state under Article 370, and bifurcated it into two Union territories on August 5.
