SRINAGAR, Feb 3 (1992): Indian troops have clamped down on Kashmir border villages ahead of a planned march there by Moslem rebels from Pakistan, official sources and witnesses said Monday.
Witnesses said new army outposts had sprung up in Kashmir villages following New Delhi’s decision to break up a February 11 march into the state by militants of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).
Official sources said troops had imposed a nighttime curfew on the border villages.
The date of the planned border crossing coincides with the eighth anniversary of the death of secessionist JKLF founder Maqbool Bhatt, who was hanged in New Delhi in 1984 for terrorism.
JKLF leader Amanullah Khan has said he will lead thousands of unarmed Moslems from Pakistan-held Kashmir into the southern two-thirds of Kashmir under Indian control to express solidarity with Moslem rebels.
Troops are frisking people and demanding identification, witnesses said, adding that even long-time residents were having problems entering their villages.
The army has virtually taken control of 10 villages along the line of control between Indian- and Pakistani-held Kashmir, they said, adding that local residents feared soldiers could order the area evacuated.
