SRINAGAR: An uneasy calm prevailed in the Kashmir valley as toll mounted to six in the ongoing violence in the region which went under curfew for the third day running. Four persons were killed and 80 injured in escalating violence in the Valley when security forces opened fire on curfew-defying protesters at several parts of the state. One person was killed when security forces opened fire in Dalgate area of the city, earlier.

Bashir Ahmad Bahar, who was injured in firing by security forces at Hajan in Bandipora district succumbed to injuries at a hospital, official sources said. Police conducted raids at many places and picked up over ten second rung separatist leaders. Though the authorities cracked down on protests led by separatist groups, the agitators openly defied the curfew at some places and clashed with police and paramilitary forces.

Top separatist leaders including chairmen of both factions of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and JKLF leader Mohammad Yaseen Malik were arrested to prevent them from organizing a march to Lal Chowk. Curfew was clamped in all 10 districts of the Valley to prevent the march by separatists to Lal Chowk in the heart of Srinagar. Threat in Jammu JAMMU: Efforts to resolve the Amarnath land transfer row received a jolt with the group spearheading the agitation threatening to pull out of parleys demanding immediate transfer of some police officials responsible for use of force against innocent civilians.

The Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti (SAYSS), which held its first talks with a governor-appointed panel on the land row, has said there will be no further talks with the government unless three senior police officers in the province are not transferred.

The three officials are IG Jammu Zone K Rajendra Kumar, SSP Jammu Manohar Singh and SSP Kathua district S P Pani. Meanwhile, normal life remained paralyzed for the 59th consecutive day throughout Jammu region due to the ongoing agitation for restoration of land to the Board. Shops and markets remained closed and attendance in government and semi-government offices and banks continue to remained thin due to non-availability of private and public transport which has been off the roads since the agitation began on June 29.

The authorities lifted curfew in Kathua town, a day after it was imposed following incidents of violence and subsequent clashes between police and protestors. However, the ban orders remained in force in the border town of Poonch for last four days. Curfew was clamped in Poonch town on August 23 in the wake of communal clashes in which several shops and houses were burnt and some vehicles were damaged. Night curfew continued to remain enforced in Kishtwar town, which was also rocked by communal violence on August 12.