Even as life returned to normal in the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday, curfew was re-imposed on Anantnag town following the death of a man who was allegedly beaten up by Central Reserve Police Force personnel last week.
In fresh clashes, which broke out at many places, at least 40 people were injured.
Reports said Mohammad Abbas Dhobi (35) of Mattan in Anantnag district was critically injured when the CRPF allegedly thrashed him during a demonstration at the main chowk Mattan on Friday. He “succumbed to his wounds this [Tuesday] morning. He had suffered injury in the spinal cord. All his limbs were paralysed,” said Syed Amin Tabish, Medical Superintendent of the Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar.
When news of the death spread in his hometown, people defied curfew and raised slogans. Thousands participated in funeral prayers. Later, clashes broke out between angry youth and the security forces at Mattan, Seer Hamdan, Khanabal, Lal Chowk, Lazibal, Sarnal and other areas, resulting in injuries to at least six persons.
At least 13 were injured when groups of youth staged demonstrations on the Srinagar-Baramulla road near Palhalan. Shouting pro-freedom slogans, the protesters tried to march on the highway.
However, the CRPF personnel and the police intercepted them and lobbed teargas shells to disperse them. In retaliation, the youth threw stones at the forces triggering, ding-dong battles. Later, the security forces opened fire on the demonstrators resulting in injuries to at least six persons. Two youths who sustained bullet injuries were rushed to a Srinagar hospital.
A police statement said the forces opened fire in self-defence when their vehicle was attacked by a mob near Palhalan. “Had the police not fired, the mob would have lynched them. Three persons were injured in this incident. Their condition is reported to be stable.”
In Bandipore district, at least seven persons were injured when the security forces burst teargas shells and opened fire on a procession near the main chowk.
Reports said hundreds of people took to the streets protesting against the arrest of four youths on Sunday evening. In Srinagar, at least eight persons were wounded during clashes between protesters and the forces in Bemina, Maisuma, Habak and Hazratbal.
