“Troops are being deployed in sensitive places in Srinagar and other major cities and no movement of vehicles is allowed,” a police official said.
Geelani was the highest separatist leader in Kashmir. His family said the elderly politician had been ill for years and had been under house arrest for the past twelve years after leading several protests against India.
A family member told Reuters that Geelani suffered chest pain and chest congestion on Wednesday afternoon and died late at night at his residence in Srinagar.
Police Chief Vijay Kumar told Reuters that the Internet was shut down as a precautionary measure and restrictions imposed on the Kashmir Valley.
The roads leading to Geelani’s residence in Srinagar were sealed, another official said.
Kashmir has long been a hotbed between India and neighboring Pakistan, claiming the region as a whole but only dominating parts. However, tensions renewed after New Delhi withdrew autonomy from the state of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 and split it into two federally administered territories.
Last year, Geelani left his tough faction of the Hurriyat Conference faction, saying he had been unable to counter New Delhi’s efforts to harden the disputed region.
The Hurriyat Conference was formed by several separatist groups in Kashmir in 1993 to provide a political platform to secede from India following an armed revolt against New Delhi.