Several people were injured in fresh protests in Jammu and Kashmir yesterday as residents defied a curfew to march to Anantnag in a more volatile region in response to a call by separatists.
Police said people from many places in south Kashmir and parts of old Srinagar took to the streets despite the strict curfew which continued for the 17th day yesterday.
The government had tightened security across the Kashmir Valley to thwart the Anantnag march, fearing an outbreak of violent protests if people came out in large numbers to reach south Kashmir – the worst hit in the days of unrest that has left nearly 50 people dead and thousands injured.
Sources said police and paramilitary forces baton charged and fired pellets to chase away the protesters marching towards Anantnag town square where separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had planned to address rallies and offer prayers in absentia for the dead.
Both Geelani and the Farooq were taken into preventive custody as they defied prohibitory orders.
Geelani, who has been in detention at his residence in the upscale Hyderpora neighbourhood, came out despite a tight security cordon around his house. But policemen outside stopped him and drove him away in a bullet-proof armoured vehicle to the nearby Humhama police station, an officer said.
Farooq was also detained at a police station near his house when he defied restrictions and attempted to march towards Anantnag.
Other separatist leaders including Shabir Shah have also been detained while Yaseen Malik of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front has been lodged in a Srinagar lockup since violent protests erupted across the Kashmir Valley following the July 8 killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.
But police said in a statement that the “situation throughout the Kashmir Valley remained peaceful and under control although some stray stone pelting incidents were reported from some places.”
The separatists have extended their shutdown call till July 29.
Reminiscent of the 2008 and 2010 unrest, separatists have issued weekly protest calendars in the valley asking people when to open or shut their shops and come out on the streets for demonstrations.
Meanwhile, another man injured in the street protests succumbed on Sunday, taking the death toll to 49.
The summer vacation for schools and colleges in the valley officially ended on Sunday. Education Minister Naeem Akhtar confirmed the end of the vacations.
But most educational institutes in the valley remained closed yesterday due to restrictions and the shutdown.
In Srinagar, shops and businesses remained closed for the 17th day. Attendance in offices was negligible even as the government has ordered everyone to report for work, an official in Srinagar’s civil secretariat said.
In a related development, the government yesterday asked its officials in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to send their children outside Pakistan for their education. 
“It is a normal practice for all countries to review staffing and related policies for their diplomatic missions, including in view of prevailing circumstances at those stations,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said. 
“With effect from this academic session, officials posted in the High Commission of India in Islamabad have been advised to make arrangements for education of their wards outside Pakistan, till further notice,” he said.