Srinagar: The security has been intensified in Downtown Srinagar on Thursday as rumours are making rounds that scholar turned militant Dr Mannan Wani has been killed in a gunfight in Shatgund Handwara in northern Kashmir.

Witnesses said that additional deployment of forces has been made in several parts of the city while personnel of J&K police and CRPF manning the entry and exit points.

A police official told Kashmir Press that it was a routine affair and denied reports that the security has been heightened in the wake of the gunfight.

Earlier, the government suspended calsswork in several colleges and Islamic University Awantipora. Internet services have also been shut in southern Kashmir parts.

As the gunfight rages in Handwara, rumours have intensified claiming that scholar turned militant Mannan Wani has been killed in the gunfight.

However, it could not be ascertained from multiple police sources.

The intelligence sources in morning told The Kashmir Press that Mannan Wani was trapped in the gunfight site.

Some unverified reports also claimed that Tehreek-e-Huirriyat chairperson Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai’s son Junaid Ashraf was trapped in the gunfight. However it also could not be established.