SRINAGAR: Text messaging services were blocked in Indian-occupied Kashmir just hours after being restored when a truck driver was killed by suspected militants and his vehicle set ablaze, authorities said Tuesday.
Security sources said the decision to cut text services was taken to reduce the ability of militants to communicate.
Indian authorities had only restored call and text services for mobile phones on Monday, following a 72-day blackout in the restive northern territory imposed after New Delhi scrapped the region´s semi-autonomous status. The seven million-plus people of the occupied Kashmir Valley — the main hotbed of resistance to Indian rule — are still cut off from the internet, however.
Authorities said SMS services were cut on Monday night following the attack on the driver of a truck carrying apples in Shopian.
Residents said two masked gunmen told the driver to move his vehicle because it was blocking the road, but it skidded and got stuck. “The gunmen then fired at the truck and set it on fire,” a witness told media. Apples are a sensitive issue in Kashmir, which exports vast quantities of the fruit to markets across India.–Agencies
