Kashmir calm shattered; 3 more die in clashes

Three persons were killed and another three critically wounded when security forces opened fire to quell a protesting mob near the rail track in Amargarh village on the outskirts of north Kashmir Sopore town on Friday.

In the daylong violence across Kashmir where hardline All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) had called for a march to the Maisuma locality of Srinagar over 80 persons were injured at least eight with gunshot wounds.

Authorities imposed curfew in Srinagar early Friday morning and had deployed hundreds of security force personnel to foil the march.

A senior police officer said mobs shouting anti-India and pro-freedom slogans marched towards the rail line at Amargarh after the Friday prayers staging protests when Central Reserve Police Force troopers opened fire critically wounding five protestors, two of whom identified as Showkat Ahmad Chopan and Mohammad Ahsan Ganai succumbed en route to hospital.

The condition of the three injured persons is very critical.

As the news about the killing of the civilians spread in the area more people joined the protests, which have now spread to Sopore town.

CRPF spokesman Prabhakar Tripathi, however, denied that CRPF troopers had opened fire at Amargarh. "There was no deployment of CRPF in the area," he added.

Violent

mobs attacked a police post at Potkhah, on the outskirts of Sopore town and torched two police buses.

An unruly mob also attacked and torched a portion of the north Kashmir Pattan police station, 30 km from Srinagar on Friday evening. Security forces had to resort to firing to quell the mob, killing a teenager identified as 14-year-old Adil Sheikh on the spot.

Police used tear smoke and baton charges to disperse the mobs who, however, indulged in heavy stone pelting on the security forces guarding the police station.

Several persons are reported injured in the clashes in Pattan town while three protestors were injured in the adjacent Singhpora village on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road. The injured were taken to hospital for treatment.

In south Kashmir's Tral town, 20 persons, including eight security men, were injured in the post Friday prayer protestor-security force clashes. One of the injured protestors has been shifted to Srinagar for specialized treatment after being hit by a tear smoke shell in the face.

Earlier in the day, a teenager was critically wounded when CRPF troopers fired at a protesting mob in the Chanpora locality of the capital city.

Doctors, who operated upon the teenager, described his condition as critical. He is on the life support in the hospital ICU, according to a doctor.