HIGHWAY HELL
Kokernag, a town in southern Kashmir, where Ahmed lives with his wife and daughter, was also locked down on Aug 7, he said.
A lean man with a ready smile, Ahmed took his expectant wife to a nearby hospital for a check-up.
There, doctors concerned about her blood pressure, referred her to the district hospital at Anantnag, some 25 km (16 miles) away, saying they did not have staff because of the shutdown.
"And if something happened, they said they wouldn't be able to manage without communications," Ahmed said.
So, Ahmed, his wife, his daughter and sister-in-law piled into an ambulance. Ahmed said what is typically a 45-minute journey took more than two hours, passing through eight checkpoints.
At the Anantnag district hospital, staff quickly ran tests. Again they determined they could not risk it, Ahmed said, asking him to take his wife to the main maternity hospital in Srinagar, about 60 km (37 miles) away, for a safe delivery.
They were stopped 10 times and it took them 2-1/2 hours instead of one to get to Srinagar, where his wife was able to deliver a healthy boy.
But the rest of the family is in the dark.
"Nobody has a clue where we are, in Kokernag, Anantnag or anywhere else," Ahmed said, because all communication lines are down.
The news of Bhat's death has not travelled far either.
On an overcast morning last weekend, a crowd of about 100 men and boys gathered at a Srinagar graveyard on the banks of the Jhelum river for his burial.
A military helicopter flew overhead as they prayed for Bhat. Paramilitary police stood at an adjoining bridge.
In normal times, the crowd would number in the thousands, including family and friends, Bhat's son said, but they had been unable to contact most.
"The problem is that even close family don't know," his son-in-law said. "Even his sister doesn’t know."
She lives only about 10 km (6.2 miles) away from Bhat's house.
