Thousands Gather at Tral For Funeral of Hizbul Militant Burhan Wani

The situation in the valley was tense on Saturday afternoon as thousands gathered for the funeral of Burhan Muzzafar Wani to be held at Eidgah in Tral town of Jammu & Kashmir.

Wani, the posterboy and guerilla of the Hizbul Mujahideen in J&K was gunned down by security forces along with his two accomplices on Friday after an operation was launched on the basis of intelligence inputs.

Officials had surrounded a private house at Bamdoora being used by Wani and his associates as a makeshift hideout during which Sartaj tossed a hand grenade at them but was quickly killed in their retaliatory fire.

Reports suggest that many more are expected to reach the funeral as they are making detours to reach Tral in spite of restrictions by security forces against huge assemblies.

Key separatist leaders including Mirwaiz Muhammad Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik were placed under house arrest to prevent them from relocating to Tral to attend the funeral of Wani or join the ‘prayers in absentia’ announced in Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley.

Earlier on Friday, thousands of mourners turned up at Srinagar's historic Jamia Masjid to offer Nimaz-e-Jinaza Gaibana for Wani. A report from Tral, his native town, said huge crowds are out on the streets yelling 'we want freedom' and preparing to perform the last rites of Wani.

Earlier, stone pelting was reported in Pulwama area of J&K even as a curfew-like situation prevailed across the valley.

Clashes were reported in some parts of Srinagar and south Kashmir, but security agencies were keen to avoid any incidents which could kick off a cycle of violence.

In Srinagar, restrictions have been imposed in areas falling under seven police stations which include Nowhatta, Khanyar, Rainawari, M.R. Gunj, Safakadal, Maisuma, Kralkhud.

Mobile internet services were shut since Friday to prevent rumour-mongering by anti-social elements.

Amarnath Yatra has also been suspended for a day keeping in view the security concerns of the yatris.

All school board exams scheduled for the day have been postponed.

Train services from Baramulla in Kashmir region to Banihal town in Jammu have also been suspended.

Meanwhile, former CM of J&K Omar Abdullah tweeted that Wani's death could stir up a hornet's nest.

"Burhan's ability to recruit in to militancy from the grave will far outstrip anything he could have done on social media," Omar tweeted on Saturday.

However Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad was dismissive of Wani and said that he "was a terrorist, and one who inflicts terror has to die at some point."

BJP's Ram Madhav too said that the government has "zero tolerance" towards terror and the only agenda is development.

Wani also known as the poster boy of Hizbul would often turn to social media sites including Facebook with his statements, videos and photographs of the activities of the militant group.

His last video surfaced in June 2016 in which he insisted that Kashmiri militants have no plan or intention to target Amarnath yatra but would definitely continue to attack local policemen as they are seen by them as ‘collaborators’ in Indian ‘occupation’.