Pulwama terror attack: Kashmiris attacked across India, shutdown observed in Valley | As it happened

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday led a candlelight march to protest the Pulwama attack and said the country stands by its brave jawans.

The march was held from Hazra crossing in south Kolkata to Mahatma Gandhi's statue in the Mayo Road area.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief condemned the attack and said terrorists "have no religion or caste".

"The country stands united. We are one and we unitedly stand by our brave jawans. Terrorists are terrorists. They have no religion, no caste," Banerjee said after the march in which she and various other TMC leaders were seen carrying candles.

People walked silently along with TMC activists who carried national flags and posters with the names of all the 40 CRPF personnel killed in the attack.

The Indian community in the UK organised a massive protest outside the Pakistan High Commission in London to pay homage to the martyred CRPF jawan and against Pakistan-sponsored terror.

Sporadic incidents of violence and alleged harassment against Kashmiri students were reported across India on Saturday in the aftermath of the dastardly Pulwama terror attack.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday by a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber in South Kashmir's Pulwama district.

In view of reports of alleged harassment, the CRPF launched a helpline -- CRPF Madadgaar with the Twitter handle @CRPFmadadgaar.

Students and general public, presently out of Jammu and Kashmir, can contact on 24x7 toll free number 14411 or SMS at 7082814411 for speedy assistance in case they face any harassment.

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Bangladesh Saturday condemned the Pulwama attack and said it stands with India in its fight against terror.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into their bus in Pulwama district.

"We condemn the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir which led to the death of 40 CRPF troopers. We stand by India in its fight against terror," Bangladesh Information Minister Hasan Mahmud told reporters at Kolkata Press Club after paying floral tributes to the photograph of those killed in the attack.

When asked if Pakistan should be isolated in the international fora for orchestrating the attack on security forces, Mahmud said, "We condemn whoever is involved in this terror attack. We strongly criticise them."

A Kashmiri student was booked for allegedly sending WhatsApp messages supporting the Pulwama suicide attack, amid reports that students from the Valley were being harassed in the Uttarakhand capital.

The messages shared by the Kashmiri student on WhatsApp created tension and some right-wing Hindu outfits gheraoed the university, demanding immediate arrest of the student.

The student was suspended by a private university in Dehradun on Friday.

When asked whether landlords in Dehradun were under pressure from a section of the local population to not give rooms on rent to Kashmiri students, Dehradun SSP Nivedita Kukreti said there are such reports but no formal complaints have been received.

She said Kashmiri students pursuing different courses in the institutions based in the city need not fear as there is adequate deployment of police personnel around their campuses and hostels.

A shutdown was observed in Lal Chowk city centre and adjoining areas here on Saturday as a mark of protest against attacks on Kashmiris in Jammu and outside the state.

Shopkeepers in Lal Chowk, Maisuma, Residency Road and other adjoining areas downed their shutters at 3 pm in response to a shutdown called by trade bodies of the Valley earlier in the day.

The traders also took out a protest march to condemn the attacks on Kashmiris in Jammu and other parts of the country.

They demanded safety of Kashmiri traders and students outside the Valley.

Various trade bodies and employees' unions also held a protest at Press Colony here.

The trade bodies have also called for Kashmir bandh on Sunday.

The bandh call was issued by the Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Forum, Kashmir Economic Alliance and other trade bodies of the Valley.

Mumbai's iconic Cricket Club of India (CCI) that houses the Brabourne stadium has decided to remove the portrait of Imran Khan, former Pakistan captain and now the nation's Prime Minister from its rich collection of memorabilia.

A decision to this effect was taken by the club's managing committee following the Pulwama terror attack which claimed the life of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.

Imran Khan's portrait found a place in the prestigious club's 'All rounder' restaurant as well as a Pakistan team photograph involving him on one of the walls of the club. Both have now been removed.

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"India has withdrawn MFN status to Pakistan after the Pulwama incident. Upon withdrawal, basic customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan to India has been raised to 200% with immediate effect. #Pulwama," Arun Jaitley tweeted.

India has withdrawn MFN status to Pakistan after the Pulwama incident. Upon withdrawal, basic customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan to India has been raised to 200% with immediate effect. #Pulwama

— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) February 16, 2019

Jaish-e-Mohammad head Masood Azhar, the real architect of the deadly Pulwama attack, receives the same military protection in Pakistan's Punjab province as Osama bin Laden did in the military town of Abbottabad, India Today's open-source investigation shows.

Bin Laden lived in comfort behind the walls of a private compound around a mountainous garrison, a km-and-a-half from the Pakistan Military Academy. The al Qaeda leader was killed by US Special Forces on May 2, 2011.

India Today's open-source intelligence team has pin-pointed the Jaish den in Bahawalpur, the 12th largest city of Pakistan's Punjab.

The probe shows Masood Azhar's headquarters minutes away from the army cantonment in the area.

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Demanding scrapping of Indo-Pak bus service in the wake of Pulwama terror attack, members of a right-wing outfit staged protest by waving their black jackets and T-shirts at a Lahore-bound 'Sada-e-Sarhad' bus on Saturday after their black flags were taken way by police .

Led by Shiv Sena (Hindustan) state president Manish Sood, the activists held the protest at Sugar Mill Chowk on national highway 1 when the Delhi-Lahore Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) bus was crossing the route.

Sood said they wanted to show black flags but the police had taken those way.

"Left with no other alternative, we removed our black jackets/T- shirts and waved these to protest," Sood said, and declared that they will show black flags daily to the bus till the Indo-Pak bus service is cancelled.

"We will block the passage of the bus in case our demand to terminate the Indo-Pakistan bus service is not heeded," he warned.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has announced that he will be donating Rs 5 lakh each to the families of 40 CRPF personnel who were martyred in the Pulwama terror attack.

A spokesperson of the 76-year-old actor said he is currently finding out from several government sources where and how the amount will be distributed to ensure it is expedited.

"Yes, Mr Bachchan will be giving Rs 5 lakh to each of the martyr's families and is currently finding out the correct process to do so," the spokesperson said in a statement.

The 76-year-old actor had on Friday cancelled his appearance as a special guest at Virat Kohli's Foundation event, which will now take place on Saturday.

"Putting the blame on Pakistan for everything is wrong. Normalisation process with India is our top most priority," Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhury tells India Today TV.

"JeM is a banned organisation. We are taking action against it and will do whatever is required," Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhury tells India Today TV.

Speaking further on the Pulwama carnage, the prime minister said times have changed and the world will experience this soon.

"Ours is a new India with new methods and policies, and the world will experience this now. Those who spray bullets or those who provide guns and bombs to target our soldiers, will not be spared. We will not allow them to sleep in peace," Modi asserted.

The prime minister said his government has worked tirelessly for the welfare of farmers and pointed to the recent announcement of providing Rs 6,000 annually directly into the bank accounts of agriculturalists having less than five acres of land.

He said the development projects inaugurated Saturday would allow Dhule to compete with Surat in adjoining Gujarat in the next 30 years.

The prime minister inaugurated the Lower Panazara Medium Project constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchan Yojana (PMKSY).

Modi laid the foundation stones of Sulwade Jamphal Kanoli Lift Irrigation Scheme and Dhule City Water Supply Scheme.

The prime minister also laid the foundation stone of Dhule-Nardana new rail line and Jalgaon-Manmad third railway line, besides flagging off the Bhusaval-Bandra Khandesh Express through video link.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that each drop of tear shed in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack would be avenged.

Continuing his tough talk in the wake of the ghastly strike that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawans Thursday, Modi said this is a "new India" which will not tolerate those who provide guns and bombs to target security personnel.

Addressing a public meeting after inaugurating several development projects here in north Maharashtra, he said anger over the horrific assault in Jammu and Kashmir is palpable in the country and all eyes are moist.

Modi paid tributes to the slain soldiers and hailed their families.

"I have come here at a time when there is anger and eyes are moist. I salute the brave soldiers and the mothers who gave birth to them," he said.

"Apart from the government, as citizens of the country, it is our responsibility to stand by the families of those who sacrificed everything for the country.

"This is the time for mourning and to show restrain and sensitivity," he said.

"I want to assure each family who lost their loved one that each drop of tear will be avenged (aasu ka pura pura jawab liya jayega)," Modi declared.

Tens of thousands of people lined the roads and many more marched with the tricolour for the final journey of the five CRPF jawans from Rajasthan killed in the Pulwama terror attack who were cremated with full state honours in their native villages on Saturday.

Amid slogans of 'Bharat mata ki jai', 'vande mataram' and 'Pakistan murdabad' by the emotional people who had gathered to pay their respects, the mortal remains of the jawans were received by their grieving family members. Several Union and state ministers and MLAs also attended the last rites.

Markets remained closed in Jaipur, Churu, Pali, Jhunjhunu and at several other places in Rajasthan which accounted for highest casualties in the suicide attack after Uttar Pradesh.

Roshitash Lamba from Jaipur district, Narayan Lal Gurjar from Rajsamand district, Jeet Ram from Bharatpur district, Bhagirath Singh from Dholpur district and Hemraj Meena from Kota district were among 40 paramilitary personnel who lost their lives when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a car laden with over 100 kg explosives into a CRPF bus in Awantipura of Jammu Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday.

Markets remained closed in Dehradun on Saturday as a mark of respect to 40 CRPF personnel, including two from Uttarakhand, killed in the Pulwama terror attack.

The closure call given by Doon Udyog Vyapar Mandal was supported by more than 260 social organisations, Mandal official Vipin Nagaliya said.

Petrol pumps in the city were also closed for five hours.

However, medical stores were kept out of the ambit of the bandh, he said.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and Union Health Minister J P Nadda Saturday paid homage to CRPF jawan Tilak Raj who was killed in the Pulwama terror attack which claimed the lives of 40 paramilitary personnel.

Thakur visited Raj's native village in the Jawali area of Kangra district and laid the wreath on the coffin carrying the mortal remains of the jawan draped in the tricolour.

Raj was cremated at around 2 pm with full state honours.

The chief minister conveyed his condolences and assured the bereaved family of all possible assistance from the state government.

Raj's brother, Baldev Singh, lit the funeral pyre as the villagers kept chanting "Shaheed Tilak Raj amar rahe". Anti-Pakistan slogans were also raised.

Besides the chief minister, Union Health Minister J P Nadda, former CM and MP Shanta Kumar, state Food and Civil Supplies Minister Kishan Kapoor, state Health Minister Vipin Singh Parmar, MLAs Arun Mehta, Rakesh Pathania and Arjun Singh, among others, paid homage to the jawan.

Senior officials of the Army, CRPF and police were present.

Heart-rending scenes were witnessed in Mohammadpur Bhuria village of Udham Singh Nagar district as slain CRPF jawan Virendra Singh's three-year-old son lit his funeral pyre on Saturday.

People flocked to Singh's residence this morning to pay their last respects to the soldier who lost his life in the Pulwama terror attack on Thursday.

Prominent among those who attended the funeral and gave their shoulders to Singh's coffin were Union Minister of State for Textiles Ajay Tamta, Uttarakhand minister Yashpal Arya and Khatima MLA Pushkar Singh Dhami.

CRPF jawans fired three rounds in the air to pay their last respects to the 35-year-old, the youngest son of Diwan Singh.

Virendra Singh had rejoined his duties in Jammu and Kashmir only last week after vacationing at home for 20 days.