Even as uneasy calm prevailed in the Kashmir Valley, one more civilian was killed when the CRPF and the police opened fire in Pulwama on Thursday. Another civilian who was injured in Srinagar on Wednesday evening died in hospital, taking the death toll to 48 since June 11.
Curfew continued for the seventh consecutive day amid nocturnal protests.
Reports said thousands of people from Pampore town of Pulwama district and adjacent Samboora, Khrew, Zewan and Kakpora marched towards Zadoora village raising slogans. The procession, sources said, stopped at Zadoora village to pay homage to 23-year-old Muhammad Yaqoob Bhat, who was killed in firing on Sunday.
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Locals said the police and the CRPF fired at the procession near the Degree College Pulwama, killing Shabir Ahmad Malik and injuring 40 others. They claimed it was a peaceful protest.
However, a senior police officer told The Hindu that the protesters resorted to heavy stone throwing and were planning to set on fire the police station and the tehsil office. “We tried to convince those young boys not to violate the curfew and resort to violence but they did not listen and we were forced to open fire,” he said pleading anonymity.
Ghulam Nabi Badyari, who was injured in CRPF firing in Srinagar downtown, died in hospital. This led to protests in the area.
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Chief Minister Omar Abdullah visited the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, and met the injured persons undergoing treatment. He instructed the SKIMS Director and doctors to provide the best possible medical care to the affected persons. Mr. Abdullah also took stock of the availability of life-saving drugs and other medicines. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Minister of State for Health Javed Ahmad Dar.
Reports said protests erupted in the hospital when the Chief Minister visited it. Mr. Dar told The Hindu that there was minor sloganeering as “we visited the injured and talked to them.”
“Most unfortunate”
The CPI(M) strongly condemned the police firing on protesters at Newa Pulwama. “It is most unfortunate that instead of [the police] exercising maximum restraint, such killings continue unabated.”
Terming the incident uncalled for, CPI(M) State secretary M.Y. Tarigami urged the government to immediately check such incidents. He expressed his sympathies to the bereaved families.
The People's Democratic Party has demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners and hundreds of youths rounded up recently in the Valley. It welcomed the move to seek the intervention of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani for restoring peace and ending the impasse.