India starts removing some bunkers in Srinagar

Indian Police remove bunkers in an effort to ease tensions in the region racked by deadly protests.

SRINAGAR: Indian security forces started removing some security bunkers from Indian Held Kashmir's main city of Srinagar in an effort to ease tensions in the region racked by deadly protests.

"The process of removing some 16 security bunkers from Srinagar has started," Prabhakar Tripathi, a spokesman for Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), told AFP.

Dozens of CRPF personnel were seen dismantling a security bunker on a key road in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Held Kashmir.

The announcement to remove the bunkers was made last week in Srinagar after a meeting of top officials from the state, the Indian army, paramilitary forces and the intelligence agencies.

The move is part of plans to try to defuse deadly anti-India street protests that have left some 110 protesters and bystanders dead since early June.

Local authorities also decided to release dozens of people arrested for throwing stones at security forces.

Srinagar is dotted with security bunkers, a legacy of 20 years of a deadly insurgency against Indian rule in the Muslim-majority region.