Indian held Kashmir largely shut down amid heavy security Friday after occupation troops shot dead four people during a protest over a paramilitary raid on madressah. Shops, banks, schools and most government offices were closed after a Kashmiri leader called a three-day strike to protest Thursday's killings.
Occupied Srinagar, was almost completely deserted after hundreds of police and occupation troops were deployed on the streets to halt demonstrations over the deaths, an AFP reporter on the scene said. Although authorities have not officially declared a curfew in the troubled Himalayan region, residents said they were not being allowed to go about their business. Indian held Kashmir's chief minister, Omar Abdullah, also condemned the shootings while India's Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde ordered an investigation, saying the deaths were regrettable.
A top Kashmiri leader, Syed Ali Geelani, called for a shutdown to protest the killings. Most leaders have been detained or put under house arrest to prevent them from leading protest rallies, sources said. The chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front called for a protest before he was detained by police on Thursday. The local university postponed examinations scheduled for Friday without announcing any fresh dates. In Muzaffarabad, around 500 protesters took to the streets chanting slogans and burning the Indian flag to condemn the forces' actions.
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