SRINAGAR - SECRET lovers in Indian-controlled Kashmir, used to arranging trysts on their mobile phones, are up in arms over a ban on pre-paid connections announced last week by the government.

Justified on security grounds after a string of bomb blasts triggered by pre-paid mobiles, the ban affects 3.8 million users in this socially conservative, Muslim-majority region where romance is taboo.

Pre-paid connections might well be the choice of anti-India militants, say angry young sweethearts, but they are also a lifeline for couples wanting to avoid detection from disapproving parents or prying elders.

In an area where home Internet connections are reserved for the wealthy, there are few alternatives for illicit chats than pre-paid mobile phones which were easily bought in shops and had become popular gifts for couples.

Post-paid - mobiles paid on a monthly basis - can only be bought after a series of security checks and official registration of personal details and passport photographs.

India banned pre-paid connections on Sunday following concerns that militants were using them to trigger bombs in Kashmir, the scene of a 20-year insurgency against rule by New Delhi. -- AFP