Curfew was lifted from Sopore, Baramulla, Kulgam and Koimoh towns whereas relaxation of varied durations was allowed elsewhere in the restive Kashmir Valley except in central Srinagar on Saturday.
While Sopore witnessed heavy rush of buyers in local marketplaces whole day, stray incidents of stone-pelting were reported from neighbouring Baramulla. According to an official announcement, night curfew would remain in force in Sopore till further orders. It added that the local administration has disbursed ex-gratia cheques of Rs 1,00,000 each to the next of kin of those killed in the recent firing incidents.
However, in Anantnag town which with Sopore was worst hit in the recent disturbances, the two-hour relaxation period from 7 am witnessed fresh protests by residents.
The police and the CRPF had tough time in dealing with surging crowds and, witnesses said, fired aerial shots and teargas canisters to break them up.
Similarly in Pulwama, also in the south of the Valley, where the authorities had announced a two-hour relaxation in the morning, curfew had to reimposed within half an hour as parts of the town erupted again with slogan chanting crowds clashing with the police, reports said.
In Srinagar, curfew remained in force in downtown areas and restrictions were extended to the frontier town of Kupwara and some neighbouring areas following clashes between security forces and protesters on Friday evening. On Saturday, the police again fired live ammunition to disperse curfew defying crowds in Kupwara, reports said.
Ten persons, including a DSP and three other policemen were injured in renewed clashes.
A police spokesperson here claimed that the entire Valley remained peaceful with no report of any untoward incident from any place. He added that curfew has been lifted completely in Baramulla, Sopore, Kulgam and Koimoh and also in Srinagar except the areas falling under the jurisdiction of four police stations.