Markets were closed and transport remained off the roads halting the tourist activity in response to the strike call given by separatists to protest the death of the two women in valley.

The bodies of two women found dead namingly Asiya (17) and her sister-in-law Nelofar (22) were fished out of a stream in Shopian, 52 kms from here, last week. Official sources said it could not be immediately be found whether the two women had been raped as this was not possible by only analysing a slide containing spermatozoa. “We can only tell you whether it is human sperm. Rest is a matter of investigation for which the state government has constituted an independent inquiry team,” they said.

Bodies of women were recovered on Saturday last after they went missing from their orchards in Shopian on the previous day, triggering massive protests in the valley despite a judicial inquiry being ordered into the case.