Masked youths ransacked a private bank in Srinagar and also set fire to an SUV on the Srinagar-Baramulla National Highway on Wednesday, The Hindu reported. However, nobody was harmed in the incidents, which police officials said were meant to enforce a separatist-sponsored shutdown in the Valley. Security forces also stopped anti-government rallies in various parts of the Valley, including in Sopore and Pulwama. They fired blank shots and tear gas shells into the protesting crowds, according to the report.

Separately, a notice issued by separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik called for holding the “first resistance assembly” at the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly House on October 27. This came even as the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, a student body, asked state authorities to “create a conducive atmosphere before holding annual examinations in the region.

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Meanwhile, the state government sacked 12 employees accused by the police’s Criminal Investigation Department of leading or participating in protests across the region, Greater Kashmir reported. The employees were removed from their positions for “not only questioning the sovereignty and integrity of India but also violating the rules governing the conduct of employees in the state”, according to the report. The state government allegedly implemented the move without conducting an inquiry into the charges against the accused.

While curfew imposed after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani has been lifted from the Valley, normal life in the region continues to be affected because of the separatist-sponsored shutdown and militant attacks. On Tuesday, at least 44 people were arrested in Baramulla on charges of undertaking “terror-related activities”. Around 700 houses in ten localities were searched during the operation conducted by the Indian Army, Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force and local police. The mission was reportedly the first of its kind in a decade.