Fuel supplies to Kashmir suspended

JAMMU - Alleging that drivers of petrol tankers were assaulted in the Kashmir Valley, a traders-body Wednesday suspended fuel supplies there, an official said.

“Protesters in Kashmir assaulted the drivers of the petrol tankers. Some of the tankers were also damaged by those pelting stones,” Jammu and Kashmir Oil Tankers Association president Anan Sharma told reporters here.

He said the supplies will remain suspended until normalcy is restored in the valley.

The protesters, who were angry over the killings of at least eight youths since Friday in firings by police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, have been defying curfew restrictions imposed to restore peace in the area.

The suspension of fuel supplies is likely to hit consumers across Kashmir.

This is for the second time since 2008 that fuel supplies have been suspended. Earlier, they were suspended during the Amarnath land row agitation in 2008 when truckers and tanker drivers came under attack in the valley.