Jammu and Kashmir has been under a lockdown after the centre scrapped its special status
Highlights
- Situation in J&K is peaceful, no violence reported, state police tweeted
- There has been no untoward incident barring minor stone-pelting: Police
- Centre has scrapped the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir
The situation in Jammu and Kashmir is peaceful and no violence has been reported from anywhere in the state, the state police tweeted. "There has been no untoward incident barring minor stone-pelting which was dealt with on the spot and was nipped in the bud," Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said.
He was asked about the situation in the state after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told reporters in Delhi that the situation in the new Union Territory had deteriorated.
Minutes after Mr Gandhi made the statement, the Srinagar police tweeted that the situation was peaceful.
However, sources said curfew has been reimposed in Srinagar today. They said police vehicles were seen making announcements on loudspeakers asking people to return to their homes, and shopkeepers have been told to down the shutters.
A meeting of the Congress' top decision-making body to appoint its next chief was briefly halted after reports of "violence and deaths" emerged from Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Gandhi said on Saturday night. He said this to reporters minutes before the party leadership formally announced that his mother, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, has been appointed as the interim Congress chief.
The BJP-led centre had scrapped the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir through a presidential order last week.
Omar Abdullah's National Conference has appealed in the Supreme Court against the government's move to scrap Jammu and Kashmir's special status and divide the state into two union territories. In its petition - filed by party MPs Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi - the party claimed the centre's move was "illegal".
The government in a statement said senior police officers and Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam have asked people not to believe in rumours about alleged incidents of firing in Kashmir valley. On Saturday, Srinagar and other towns saw good traffic for Eid shopping, it said.
A Home Ministry spokesperson on Saturday said barring a few protests in the past few days, involving crowds of not more than 20 people, there has been no serious incidents.
"There have been a few stray protests in Srinagar and Baramulla and none of these involved a crowd of more than 20 people," the spokesperson said.
He dismissed media reports about a protest by some 10,000 people in Kashmir valley as "fabricated and incorrect".
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who is camping in Jammu and Kashmir amid the lockdown, was on Saturday seen in a video talking with locals, in an apparent effort to show signs of normalcy.