SRINAGAR:
Thousands of people have been detained in Indian Kashmir over fears of unrest
after New Delhi stripped the region of its autonomy two weeks ago, government
sources told AFP. A magistrate speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity said
at least 4,000 people were arrested and held under the Public Safety Act (PSA),
a controversial law that allows authorities to imprison someone for up to two
years without charge or trial.

"Most of
them were flown out of Kashmir because prisons here have run out of
capacity," the magistrate said, adding that he had used a satellite phone
allocated to him to collate the figures from colleagues across the Himalayan
territory amid a communications blackout and lockdown imposed by authorities.
The revelations came as the family of a timber trader alleged he died after
suffocating from tear gas fired by security forces.

"They
(security forces) first damaged the property and when he went out to check,
they fired tear gas shells and because of the smoke, he suffocated and
died," Muddasir Ahmed, the nephew of 62-year-old Sidiq Khan, told AFP
Sunday during his wake. The Kashmir government did not immediately respond to a
request for comment. One youth had died in the early days of the lockdown after
he jumped into a river while being chased by police.

Authorities have
repeatedly declined to provide a tally of how many people have been taken into
custody, apart from confirming more than 100 local politicians, activists and
academics were detained in the first few days after the state was stripped of
its semi-autonomous status. They said the "few preventive detentions"
were made to avoid a "breach of the peace" in a region that has
fought an armed rebellion against Indian rule for three decades. Those detained
include high-profile former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah.

Jammu and Kashmir
government spokesman Rohit Kansal said previously there was "no
centralized figure" for the total number of people detained. But AFP spoke
to numerous government officials in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar, including
police and security personnel, who confirmed the sweeping arrests. A police
official who asked to remain anonymous told AFP "around 6,000 people were
medically examined at a couple of places in Srinagar after they were
detained". "They are first sent to the central jail in Srinagar and
later flown out of here in military aircraft," he added.

Residents living
around the airport in Srinagar, where the Indian Air Force controls air
traffic, say military aircraft land and take off every night. Another security
official said "thousands are jailed" but that the figure did not
include other residents whose detentions at police stations had not been recorded.
Families of those detained were reluctant to speak to AFP, fearing they would
get into trouble with authorities. A resident who asked not to be named told
AFP a shopkeeper was arrested despite not taking part in protests, with a
police officer telling him he was detained "because he talks a lot".

Authorities
yesterday earlier reinstated the heavy restrictions even though they had
earlier flagged easing them, after eight people were injured during protests.
The Press Trust of India news agency cited unnamed officials saying there had
been clashes in a dozen locations around Srinagar on Saturday. Authorities have
previously denied or played down reports of any violence and stressed that most
of the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley has been peaceful.

State government
spokesman Kansal told reporters late Saturday that eight people had been
injured in the clashes but did not provide further details. A senior government
official told AFP earlier yesterday that more telephone exchanges would return
to normal operations "by the evening" and schools in some areas would
reopen today. New Delhi's shock decision has sparked public anger and
frustration and there have been several rallies in Srinagar attracting
thousands of demonstrators. - AFP