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SRINAGAR, India : Thousands of Indian police and paramilitaries were Friday enforcing a strict curfew in Kashmir and intensifying a crackdown against Muslim separatists, officials said.
Security forces were out in large numbers on the streets of Srinagar and elsewhere in the disputed Kashmir valley, which has been the scene of weeks of violent protests, ordering locals not to leave their homes.
"A strict curfew is in force. Please stay indoors and don't come out for congregational prayers," police announced through vehicle-mounted public address systems while patrolling the streets of Srinagar.
Muslim leaders in Kashmir had called upon people to hold "peaceful protests" on Friday to denounce Indian rule in Kashmir, as well as the arrest of senior separatists and their supporters.
An indefinite curfew was imposed in Kashmir on Sunday, with authorities hoping to prevent further anti-India protests.
Eight people were shot dead during the week for defying the crackdown, and several separatist leaders - including the two most senior figures Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq - have been detained.
Police officials say over 100 of their supporters have also been arrested.
On Friday, police arrested a third veteran separatist leader, Shabir Shah, during a raid in the outskirts of Srinagar, a police official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Shah, who has spent more than 20 years in different jails for espousing Kashmir's independence, had been in hiding since the crackdown started.
The last month has seen some of the biggest anti-India protests since an insurgency in the region began in 1989.
They were triggered by a state government plan made public in June to donate land to a Hindu shrine trust in the Kashmir valley. The decision was later reversed after massive Muslim protests, angering Hindus.
Since June, at least 39 Muslims and three Hindus have died in police shootings on protesters in the Kashmir valley and the mainly Hindu area of Jammu.
On Wednesday, the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights called for a "thorough and independent" probe into the killings.
The UN organisation said it was "concerned about the recent violent protests in Indian-administered Kashmir that have reportedly led to civilian casualties as well as restrictions to the right to freedom of assembly and expression."
India dismissed the comments as "unwarranted" and "irresponsible".
- AFP/ms
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