Curfew was extended to all major towns of the Kashmir Valley as a precautionary measure after violent clashes left 17 people dead and over 70 yesterday. The dead included a policeman, while over hundred police personnel also sustained injuries, 41 of them are said to be serious. Fresh violence erupted yesterday after a television channel aired report of alleged desecration of holy Quran in the United States. The sources said the curfew was imposed in fresh areas as a precautionary measure and to prevent people from pouring out on roads and streets. A police spokesman said a mob took out the belongings and bedding of police personnel from a police post at Khanabal-Pahalgam Road in Anantnag town last night and set them on fire. A troop’s carrier of the state police was torched in Budgam district. The State cabinet yesterday condemned the alleged act of desecration and made a fervent appeal to the people not to take law in their own hands. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had voiced concern over the ongoing unrest in Jammu and Kashmir. He also sought to reach out to the people in the state, saying their grievances have to be addressed and promised talks within the Indian Constitution with those who abjure violence.