SRINAGAR: Shops and businesses have been shut in Indian-administered Kashmir during a strike to protest the US prison sentence given to a Kashmir-born man accused of working for Pakistan’s spy agency to influence Washington policymakers.

A court in the state of Virginia sentenced Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai of the Kashmiri American Council to two years in prison on March 30. He admitted he concealed financial links to Pakistan’s spy agency while he presented himself as an independent voice on Kashmir’s behalf.

Saturday’s strike was called by a top Kashmiri separatist leader. Syed Ali Shah Geelani called the US court decision unfortunate and extreme.

Public transport was off the roads and schools were closed in Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir.