SRINAGAR: Authorities clamped a curfew across most of Indian-administered Kashmir for the first day of the Muslim Ramadan festival Sunday and partially cut telephone services to thwart protests over the killing of a top rebel commander, reports AFP.The lockdown in the mainly Muslim region crippled life on the first day of the Islamic holy month after widespread violence on Saturday over the killing of Sabzar Ahmad Bhat in a gunfight with government forces.Government forces in riot gear erected barricades in the main city, Srinagar, and other towns in southern Kashmir to prevent people from reaching the commander's funeral.
But thousands of mourners defied the security curbs Sunday to attended the burial of the rebel commander in his hometown amid anti-India and pro-Independence slogans.
Srinagar's central mosque remained shut and devotees were barred from offering prayers on the first day of the Ramadan fasting period.
"Restrictions have been put in place in some areas to maintain law and order," police chief Shesh Pal Vaid told AFP.