M A I N   N E W S

NC MP’s brother shot

Wailing relatives of National Conference Member Parliament Abdul Rashid Shaheen, whose brother Nazir Ahmad was killed by militants outside his shop in the Pattan area of Baramula district in north Kashmir on Wednesday.  — PTI photo

Srinagar, July 11
Militants shot dead the brother of a ruling National Conference (NC) MP at Pattan in Baramula district this afternoon while a woman was killed and five pedestrians were injured in a grenade attack here, officials said.

Elsewhere in the valley, eight militants and a jawan were among the 10 persons killed since last evening.

Nazir Ahmad Sofi, brother of the NC MP Abdul Rashid Shaheen, was attacked by the militants at the main bazaar Pattan, about 27 km from here on the Srinagar-Uri road.

Mr Sofi, who was critically injured, died before he could be taken to hospital, the officials said.

Six pedestrians, including two women, were injured when they were caught in a grenade blast at Khanyar in downtown Srinagar this afternoon. The grenade was hurled by militants at the security forces, the officials said.

The injured were admitted to hospital where the condition of one of the women was stated to be serious. She died in the hospital.

Two militants each were killed by security forces at Miliyal, Grund and Manigah in Kupwara district last evening, the officials said. Some arms and ammunition were seized, they said.

An encounter took place between militants and security forces at Beerwah in the central Kashmir district of Badgam during which one militant and a jawan were killed.

The security forces gunned down a militant at Bonteng Sagam in the south Kashmir district of Anantnag last evening. An AK-47 rifle, four magazines and three grenades were seized. UNI

Strike against custodial death

Srinagar, July 11
A snap strike and demonstrations against the alleged custodial killing of a youth rocked parts of the Kashmir valley today with the police resorting to fire in the air in which two persons were injured, official reports said.

The body of the youth bearing bullet wounds was found by the police near his village at Nowbug in Pulwama district of south Kashmir today which sparked demonstrations by hundreds of agitated residents who accused the BSF of killing the youth while he was in custody, the reports said. PTI