A day after Dujana killing, uneasy calm prevails in Kashmir

Amid shutdown and restrictions, a tense situation prevailed in Kashmir on Wednesday, a day after Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander Abu Dujana was killed in an encounter with security forces. 

Dujana alias Hafiz, a Pakistani national, was killed by the security forces along with an associate in a fierce encounter in southern Pulwama district on Tuesday, triggering widespread protests in parts of the Valley. One civilian was killed in subsequent clashes with security forces while several others were injured in Pulwama. However, another injured civilian breathed his last at SKIMS hospital in Srinagar on Wednesday morning taking the toll to two. 

Separatists had called for a Valley-wide strike on Wednesday against the killing of civilians, while authorities imposed restrictions in volatile areas of Srinagar and other districts to thwart protests.

Officials said no incident of fresh violence was reported on Wednesday. However, they said, Pulwama and neighbouring districts of Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag remained on edge as funeral prayers in absentia for Dujana were organised at several places in south Kashmir. 

"The situation remained under control during the day as police and security forces were deployed in the Valley



to maintain law and order," a police official said. The authorities also suspended mobile Internet services in the valley as a 'precautionary measure' while the intra-Kashmir train services remained suspended due to apprehension fresh violence.

After protests erupted in several colleges on Tuesday, authorities had ordered the closure of all educational institutions in the Valley on Wednesday. Kashmir University and Islamic University of Science and Technology announced the postponement of all exams scheduled for the day.

27-year-old Dujana, who figured at number one in the list of "most dangerous terrorists" released by the Army in June this year, had taken over operational command of LeT in late 2015 following the killing of Abu Qasim.

Dujana, who had infiltrated into Kashmir in 2010, had been named by police as the mastermind in several militant attacks across the state and in the last two years, he escaped from the cordon and search operations at least half a dozen times.

He carried a cash reward of Rs. 1.5 million on his head and had six months back married a girl from Pulwama. It was his attempt to meet his wife that alerted security agencies about his presence in the area and proved his downfall.