Thousands of armed police and paramilitary soldiers on patrol asked residents to stay indoors in major towns to prevent protests. However, clashes between troops and protesters erupted in several parts of the troubled region.
For the past six weeks, street violence - sparked by the deaths of several protesters in apparent shootings by security forces - has roiled the region.
The separatist strike call this week excludes Tuesday, a Muslim religious holiday, and Saturday, to allow locals to stock up on essentials.
On Sunday, schools, shops and businesses opened despite a public holiday after separatists called for a day’s break in weeks of intermittent strike action. Tens of thousands of shoppers flooded markets to stockpile supplies.
However, protests erupted later Sunday after residents blamed police for the deaths of another two Kashmiris.
Residents said the body of Farooq Ahmed Bhat, 35, who had been missing from his home in Srinagar for five days, was found in a stream. They alleged that police killed him for participating in anti-India protests.
A police officer said that Bhat, a former militant, appeared to have died of drowning and an investigation was under way.
Another man, Tariq Ahmed, was found dead on Sunday in a police cell in Panzalla, a village 70 km north of Srinagar. Residents accused police of torturing Ahmed to death.
Police said Ahmed was arrested recently on charges of helping the militants and he committed suicide in custody, however the state government has ordered an inquiry into the death and suspended two policemen for “dereliction of duties.”
The region has been under a rolling curfew in recent weeks as residents accuse government forces of killing at least 17 people, mostly teenagers, in the demonstrations.
In a separate incident, five people were wounded, three of them critically, after an unused shell they had picked up exploded.
The people were picnicking in Khag village, 45 km northwest of Srinagar, an area where the army has an artillery training center, police said.
