Srinagar: Authorities imposed curbs in Nowhatta area of Old Srinagar on Friday, marking the 3rd death anniversary of Sajad Ahmad Gilkar, who was killed along with two other militant associates, one of them a Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander, in an encounter with government forces in Budgam district of central Kashmir on this day in 2017.
Reports said shops and business establishments remained closed in the downtown, including Nowhatta,
Gojwara, Rajouri Kadal, Naqashband sahib and Jamia Market, due to spontaneous shutdown and restrictions imposed by the authorities.
Sajad had gone missing on June 29, 2017 and joined Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militants. Sajad was accused by police of having played a “key role” in the lynching of police official Mohammed Ayoub Pandith outside the Jamia mosque in Srinagar on 23 June same year. The family had however contested the allegations, saying the police was falsely linking their son to various cases “under pressure.”