Curfew in Kashmir's Shopian after youth killed in police firing

Curfew was reimposed in Shopian town of south Kashmir on Thursday following death of a youth in firing by security forces that took the death toll in the area to five since Saturday.

"Curfew has been imposed in Shopian town as a preventive measure to maintain law and order and prevent loss of property and life," a police spokesman said.

The prohibitory orders were invoked after a youth was killed when Central Reserve Police Force personnel allegedly opened fire on protestors outside Gagran camp of the force yesterday while 13 others suffered pellet injuries.

The protestors were demanding removal of the CRPF camp and arrest of the personnel involved in firing incident on Saturday that left four persons dead including three civilians.

Shopian town was placed under curfew on Sunday after the bweekend firing incident. The restrictions were lifted on Wednesday morning but fresh casualties necessitated reimposing of the curfew in the town.

Meanwhile, normal life in Kashmir was disrupted on Thursday due to a strike call given by a separatist group over the Shopian incident.

Most of the shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed due to the strike called by Tehreek-e-Hurriyat headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Public transport remained off the roads but private vehicles were plying on almost all routes in the city.

Police detained Independent MLA from Langate Shiekh Abdul Rashid outside civil secretariat as he staged a protest against the killing in Shopian.

Police used water cannons to disperse supporters of the MLA, who had planned to gherao the civil secretariat to protest against the killing of the youth.