Srinagar, September 12
Two persons were killed in police firing and 33 others injured, including JKLF chief Yaseen Malik, when protesters and the police clashed in different parts of the valley today.
In Shopian, Imtiyaz Ahmed Ganai was killed and 18 others were injured, one of them seriously, in clashes, prompting the authorities to clamp curfew after the Friday prayers in the town.
In another incident in Baramulla, Manzoor Ahmad Sheikh succumbed to bullet injuries after the police fired at the protesters in old town at Cement bridge.
At least 15 others, including Malik, were injured in clashes after Friday prayers in Srinagar city.
The police used batons, lobbed teargas shells and opened fire to quell the demonstrators, who took to the streets on the call of the separatist coordination committee.
The committee last week chalked out a programme of protest after Friday prayers and gave a general strike call for September 20 and Lal Chowk march for October 6.
The police said Ganai was killed and two others injured in a firing incident at Shopian this afternoon. Curfew has been imposed in the town, the spokesman said.
In all, 18 persons, including six cops, were injured in stone-pelting incidents and one civilian was referred to SKIMS hospital at Soura, Srinagar.
The police said: “One person was killed in a firing incident in Shopian when the mob attacked the security personnel with stones and tried to overpower one of the police constables.”
“The constable was beaten up and his weapon was snatched by a miscreant, who later fired at the constable causing an injury to his shoulder. It was at this stage that the security personnel fired gunshots in self-defence. Besides the police constable, eight other police and CRPF personnel were injured in this incident. The constable is battling for life,” the police said.
However, eyewitnesses said the police fired at the people, who were coming out from the local mosque raising slogans.
While the day started as a normal working day in Srinagar, shops and business establishments were closed after 12.30 pm prior to the Friday prayers. There was a thin traffic on the roads.
Protest demonstrations, which were held in Lal Chowk area led by various organisations and the high court bar association, disrupted the traffic movement.
The police lobbed tear gas shells to quell the demonstrators in Budhsah Chowk, Maisuma, and the adjoining areas in the commercial hub of the city. Protests were also held in Nowhatta area housing Jamia Masjid.
Senior separatist leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Fazal-e-Haq Qureshi and Nayeem Ahmad Khan, led the peaceful demonstrations in the area after the Friday prayers. The police said stone-pelting incidents continued in Nowhatta till late evening.
