Normal life in Kashmir was today hit due to a strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani to protest the arrest of ISI operative and lobbyist Ghulam Nabi Fai in the US.
Shops, business establishments and schools in most parts of Kashmir remained closed due to the strike, officials said.
While most of the public transport remained off the roads, a large number of private vehicles and cabs were plying in the outskirts of Srinagar city.
The inter-district bus services were hit badly and the roads connecting various district headquarters wore a deserted look. The attendance in government offices remained thin due to non-availability of transport services in most parts, the officials said.
Fai, 62, was arrested on July 19 by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) from his house in Fairfax in Virginia on charges of receiving hundreds and thousands of dollars from the Pakistan spy agency ISI and using them for lobbying at the Capitol Hill with the sole objective of moulding the view of American policy makers on Kashmir.
The Hurriyat leader, who is under house arrest since Wednesday, had also asked people to protest the alleged rape of a woman by two army men in Kulgam district earlier this week.
Meanwhile, a senior police officer said the situation across the valley was peaceful and there were no reports of any untoward incident so far.
Large number of police and paramilitary CRPF have been deployed in Manzgam, which witnessed violent clashes yesterday over the rape allegations, and other sensitive areas of Kashmir to maintain law and order, he said.
