CM Mehbooba Mufti visits tense Handwara

Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, visits the tense areas of Kupwara district on 16 April. 

This was newly-appointed Chief Minister's first visit to the area after the death of five civilians in alleged firing by the security forces in the last few days.

Separatist leaders of the valley have called a complete shut down to protest the killing of the locals. In Tral in south Kashmir, villagers hurled stones at a CRPF camp and this led to clashes.

The first protest broke out after an alleged molestation of a minor girl by an Indian Army personnel in Handwara. The girl has reportedly denied the charges and has accused two local youths of hatching a conspiracy.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who chaired her first security review meeting on 15 April to take stock of the situation, ordered that no harm must be done to civilians.

Mufti had earlier said that she had spoken to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who assured her that the guilty would not be spared.