Shopping fever ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr turned to panic here and in other towns of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday as people began mobbing shops after news reports said the Eid moon might be sighted in the evening.

People had been shopping expecting the festival to fall on Saturday, but after news reports that there was a high probability of the Eid moon being sighted on Thursday evening, the long queues of disciplined shoppers suddenly morphed into mobs jostling to buy mutton, bakery items, poultry and other edibles.