Fresh restrictions imposed in Kashmir Valley, top ports on high alert

Srinagar/New Delhi/Mumbai: Fresh restrictions were imposed in the city and other parts of the Kashmir Valley as a preventive measure ahead of Friday congregational prayers, an official said.

Restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC were announced on public address system. People have been asked not to venture outside and barricades have been placed.

Normal life remained disrupted across the Kashmir Valley for the 26th consecutive day, with markets closed and public transport off the roads.

While landline telephony services have resumed in many parts of the valley, mobile telephone services and all Internet services continue to remain suspended since 5 August after the Centre's move to abrogate Article 370, that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcate the state into two union territories.

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

Army chief in Kashmir

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat will be in Srinagar on Friday to review security preparedness in the Valley in view of the external threats following the withdrawal of the special category status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Rawat's visit on Friday will be his first trip to the Valley after the abrogation of Article 370 and division of the state into two Union Territories. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed security in the Valley on Thursday following his visit to Leh to inaugurate a Kisan Mela at the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research.

Rawat's visit to Kashmir comes amid an alert issued in major ports along the western coast of the country against the threat of Pakistan-trained JeM militants using the sea route to enter India in order to create communal disturbances.

Earlier this month, General Rawat had said that the Army is committed to cordial relations with people of Kashmir. "The relations of the Armed Forces with the general public of Kashmir used to be very cordial in the 70s and 80s. We will keep good relations with the general public. It would be great if that kind of camaraderie between the Army and general public begins again. We used to meet the general public without guns at that time," Rawat had said.

Top ports on alert

India's two main ports said on Thursday they had been warned by the coastguard and intelligence officials that Pakistan-trained commandos have entered Indian waters to carry out underwater attacks on port facilities.

The Mundra Port, run by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, and the state-owned Kandla Port had asked their employees and ship operators to be vigilant, port officials and the ports said in advisories seen by Reuters.

Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated since India revoked the special status of its portion of the Himalayan region of Kashmir on Aug. 5 and moved to quell objections by shutting down communications and clamping down on local leaders.

Pakistan reacted with fury to India's decision, cutting trade and transport ties and expelling India's ambassador. Both countries claim Kashmir in full but rule it in part.

On Thursday, Pakistan successfully carried out a training launch of a surface-to-surface ballistic missile, an exercise viewed as hostile by some in India.

In recent weeks, both countries have repeatedly accused each other of violating ceasefires and seeking to provoke conflict in what is one of the world's most dangerous nuclear flashpoints.

Intelligence inputs shared by government officials suggested that "Pakistan-trained commandos" had entered the Gulf of Kutch on the west coast to foment violence, the Kandla Port said in an advisory.

Venu Gopal, secretary of a trust that runs Kandla Port, confirmed it had received the intelligence inputs.

"We've reviewed the situation and instructed our security personnel to beef up security at vital installations and vulnerable areas," he said.

An advisory issued by Adani, which operates the Mundra Port, told all ships there "take utmost security measures and maintain a vigilant watch".

"We’ve informed our stakeholders at the port," an Adani spokesman said, without giving further details.

Raveesh Kumar, the Indian foreign ministry's spokesman, declined to comment on the reports but said the security forces were prepared to deal with any such infiltration.

A spokesman for Pakistan's military declined to comment on the advisory notices. A Pakistani military source said the reports were untrue.

"India is trying to divert the attention of the world from Kashmir," the source said. "There has been no such movement."

Located on the Gulf of Kutch, the Mundra Port is India's largest private port accounting for nearly one-fourth of the cargo movement in the country.

The Kandla port, built in the 1950s, is a major hub for cargoes such as crude oil and agricultural commodities of cargo handled.

India has in the past been attacked by Pakistani militants infiltrating by sea.

In 2008, 10 militants arrived on a rubber boat on the Mumbai waterfront after crossing the Arabian sea from Karachi in a fishing trawler.

They unleashed three days of carnage in which 166 people were killed.

(With inputs from PTI, IANS and Reuters)