Hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s agitation calendar began with a shutdown in valley on Wednesday. The protests are meant to press for the return of the body of executed Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Shops, malls, and private offices remained closed. To prevent street protests, the government had imposed Section 144 of the CrPC — which bars the assembly of more than four people – since Tuesday. The restrictions operated in parts of Srinagar and a few towns in north and south Kashmir.

Several youths were taken into preventive custody. The entire separatist leadership was either placed under house arrest or taken into preventive custody.