A 19-year-old youth, injured in the Army firing in Shopian on Saturday afternoon, succumbed to his injuries in a Srinagar hospital on Wednesday morning, taking the civilian death toll to three.
An official at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Science Hospital said the youth, Rayees Ahmad Ganie from Shopian’s Narpora, was declared dead early on Wednesday morning “after battling for the life in the Intensive Care Unit since Saturday evening”.
The hospital did not release the cause of the death. However, it said the youth had suffered head injuries.
Two civilians, both students, were killed and over six were injured on January 27 when the Army opened fire on stone-pelting protesters at Ganawpora village. The Army said it fired in “self-defence” when the protesters resorted to “intense stone-pelting, attempted to lynch an injured Junior Commissioner Officer (JCO) and set Army vehicles to fire”.
An FIR has been lodged by the police in the firing incident mentioning the Army’s 10 Garwal Unit and its Major, identified as Aditya. A case under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 336 (endangering life) has been registered.
Meanwhile, Shopian observed a shutdown for fourth consecutive day on Wednesday.
Separatists are holding a sit-in at Srinagar’s historic Jama Masjid at 1.30 p.m. “to protest against the civilian killings in Shopian”.
