Kashmir death cycle gets murkier,

Kashmir death cycle gets murkier, 5 more die

Mob attacks Agri minister house in Tangmarg

Srinagar, Aug 03:

The vicious cycle of violence seems to be getting murkier, as four more youth became latest victims of the police and security forces firing while one of the injured in Khrew blast succumbed to wounds after two days. With the four deaths, the toll since June 11 unrest has gone up to 45.

Official sources said that a 23-year-old Mehraj-ud-Din Lone son of Mohammad Maqbool was the first of the four persons killed today when security forces and police opened fire to quell a group of demonstrators near Qamarwari, four kilometers north of Lal Chowk, the nerve centre of the summer capital here. Lone had sustained bullet in the chest and died minutes after admitted in SMHS hospital here.

The death of the youth sparked off massive protests in Barthan and its adjoining localities. Hundreds of men, women and children defied curfew and staged demonstrations to protest the killing.

As the people were mourning the death of the youth, security forces shoot another teenager Anis Ahmad son of Khurshid Ahmad Ganai at his native Narwara residence in old city of Eidgah.

“Anees was killed when mobs defied curfew in Eidgah area and the security forces fired to bring the situation under control,” a police officer said here.
Hundreds of mourners carried the 17-year-old Anees’s body to the Eidgah martyrs' graveyard where he was buried after his funeral at historic Jamia Masjid. In order to avoid further clashes, the authorities withdrew security forces from the route.
They said that the returning mourners broke into smaller groups and targeted paramilitary bunkers and government installations in the old city areas.

While central Srinagar was morning the deaths, security forces firing killed another youth—Suhail Ahmad (16) son of Mohammad Yasin Dar of Zainakote.

They said that security forces opened fire at frenzied mobs near Shalteng area of the city outskirts. Dar sustained grave injuries and was rushed to the SHMS hospital where he died at around 8:30 this evening.

Another youth was killed and fifteen others injured when security opened indiscriminate fire on hundreds of protesters near Frisal Kulgam in south Kashmir this afternoon. They said that the youth— Jehangir Ahmad (22) son of Mohammad Yusuf Bhat of Chingam was killed and three others seriously wounded in the firing that was prompted when the protesters defied curfew and pelted stones at the youth.

Later, the irate mobs torched the homes of a local policeman and a special police officer (SPO) in the village.

Meanwhile, a 25-year-old Riyaz Ahmed Bhat son of Ghulam Nabi, who was injured in due to blast at Khrew on Sunday succumbed to injuries at the SK Institute of Medical sciences, Soura this afternoon. With the death, the toll in the blast rose to six as five protesters had died in a blast that followed after a frenzied mob torched a police post at southern Kashmir’s Khrew locality.

Reports said that when the body of the slain youth arrived in his native village, thousands of people took to streets and staged ant-India demonstrations.

In north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, at least thirty people were injured when security forces and police burst tear smoke shells and opened fire on protesters.

A farmer, Mohammad Akbar (40) son of Mohammad Shaban Wani was critically injured in the firing near Rangwar area of the town. He was rushed to SKIMS where his condition continuous to be very critical.

In adjoining Tangmarg area of the district, hundreds of protesters attacked the residence of Agriculture minister, Ghulam Hassan Mir in Kralpora village this afternoon. The protesters pelted rocks and stones on the minister’s residence and tried to set it ablaze. However, the security guards deployed fired numerous rounds in air to scare away the protesters.

A police spokesman here said that two migrant houses—housing Paramilitary CRPF, old Naib Tehsildar office were set on fire by mob in Bomie area in Sopore town. The police post Bomie was also attacked, the spokesman added.

According to reports, thousands of people in Shumnaag, Trehgam, Kralpora, main Chowk, Drugmulla, Sogam and other villages took to streets and staged demonstrations to protest the killings.

In Kupwara’s Trehgam angry protesters razed to ground a camp, housing soldiers of Border Security Force (BSF).

The protesters also damaged the Water Filtration Plant disrupting the supply to Army, CRPF and BSF. At some places forces fired warning shots after they failed to chase the protesters.

At in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, at least eight people injured when security forces opened fire after teargas shelling at hundreds of people near Sheikhpora and adjoining areas this morning. Two of the injured sustained

In Soibugh, hundreds of protesters attacked the police post and set it on fire.

Police said that the firing and other force was done in self defense. “As the mobs did not relent to the requests and continued to indulge in stone and brick pelting, security forces had to resort to tear smoke shells and lathie charge. It had to use fire for self defense and dispersal of the mobs at few places,” police spokesman said. With the killings, the death toll since Friday has gone up to 28.