SRINAGAR (AFP) - A strike to protest against a visit by the Indian vice president to Kashmir on Saturday shut down shops, offices and schools. Vice President Hamid Ansari was set to arrive in Srinagar later in the day to attend a university event in the city. Security was tight after the death of a vegetable seller overnight in a grenade explosion in Srinagar. A suspected freedom fighter was also killed and two of his associates were wounded on Thursday when a bomb they were making went off in Srinagar close to the university campus. Police and paramilitary forces patrolled the deserted streets of Srinagar and sealed off neighbourhoods to prevent rallies against India. Ansaris visit comes as protests have been raging across the occupied valley since the bodies of two women who had been raped were found three weeks ago. Families of the two victims have blamed security forces for the crime. Authorities say medical tests confirmed the rape of the women, and have ordered an investigation. Two protesters have died and hundreds been injured in clashes with the police. Authorities on Saturday deployed thousands of police across the valley, anticipating further clashes. The Shopian incident is an attack on our honour and dignity. We wont give up our fight till the perpetrators of the crime are punished, said the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference in a statement on Saturday.