Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen A K Bhat and all ranks of the Army paid homage Monday to the three soldiers who died in encounters with terrorists at Kachdora in Shopian on Sunday.

A solemn ceremony was held in the Badami Bagh Cantonment in Srinagar to remember the martyrs, after which their mortal remains were flown to their respective hometowns for last rites.

The martyred soldiers belonged to Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

They were Sepoy Hetram (25 years) of Sonigarsar village in Bikaner district of Rajasthan, Gunner Nilesh Singh of Nagri village in Sultanpur district of UP and Gunner Arvinder Kumar of Sariana village in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab.

The three Indian Army soldiers were among the 20 people who were killed in three separate encounters in Anantnag and Shopian districts of South Kashmir on Sunday. Thirteen terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT), some of them top commanders, were eliminated in the gunfights.

As many as four civilians also lost their life during the encounters.

This is the highest number of terrorists killed in a single day since 2010.

Seven terrorists were killed at Dragad in Shopian and one at Dialgam in Anantnag, while five terrorists were killed at Kachdora.

The three Army jawans were martyred during the encounter at Kachdora. Among the killed civilians was owner of the house where the terrorists were hiding.

Meanwhile, curfew was clamped in downtown Srinagar and strict prohibitory orders imposed elsewhere in the Valley on Monday as a precautionary measure in view of the strike call by separatists to protest against the killing of 13 terrorists and four civilians.

Police and paramilitary forces were deployed in large numbers to keep the situation under control.

Top separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik were placed under house arrest.

The separatists had given the call for a two-day shutdown against the killings.

All education institutions in the Valley remained shut. Train services were also suspended.

Meanwhile, expressing serious concern over the “spate of killings” in Shopian and Anantnag districts, CPM MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said uncertainty was deepening in Kashmir and time had come when the political leadership at all levels needed to go for introspection.

In a statement, he said the unfortunate killings had been now limited to death count only. “There is a need to have a humane approach, which can pave way for durable peace in Kashmir. But for the political leadership in India and Pakistan, whether they are in opposition or government, there is need to have a political approach to solve this long pending political problem. But unfortunately, Kashmir has always remained victim of domestic compulsions for both Indian and Pakistani leaderships,” Tarigami said.