A shutdown was observed across the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday and clashes with armed forces were reported at several places after a 19-year-old youth was killed and two others were wounded in police firing in the Palhalan area of north Kashmir on Monday.
The clashes began at Palhalan on Tuesday morning when thousands of people marched with the body of Farooq Ahmad Bhat. A contingent of armed forces fired in the air and lobbed teargas at the crowds. Hundreds of young men shouted slogans and threw stones at the forces. Curfew-like restrictions were imposed on most of Srinagar and the big towns of north Kashmir.
Farooq Ahmad, a Class X student and the youngest of six siblings, was killed and three other youths were wounded when the police opened fire on a group protesting a nocturnal raid in the village during which the Special Operations Group personnel allegedly used gun butts to beat the father and sister of one of the persons they were looking for.
Monday’s protests in Palhalan coincided with the second anniversary of the hanging of Afzal Guru.
