Srinagar, December 21
Attacking a police constable and bragging about the incident by uploading a recording of the incident on popular video-sharing website YouTube has landed a Valley youth behind the bars.

A resident of Rajouri Kadal locality in Srinagar, Shadab Hashmi (18), a high school student, was arrested last night after being identified from the video posted on YouTube. The incident related to the ‘summer unrest’ -- the large-scale violence that erupted after the death of a youth, Tufail Matoo, allegedly in police firing in June. Tufail’s killing was followed by over 100 more deaths in clashes between security personnel and violent mob.

Earlier too, the police has arrested several youths for allegedly instigating stone-throwing via social networking site Facebook.

According to Sub-Divisional Police Officer Khanyar Parvez Ahmed: “The incident (relating to Shadab) took place on June 11 when a few youths attacked a police constable and almost lynched him. His weapon, too, was snatched, which though was recovered later.”

Though it was yet to be known who uploaded the video, Shadab could be seen running after the policeman, who was armed with an AK-series rifle, the police said. The accused, as per the video, manages to throw the constable on the ground, beat him up and snatch his rifle.

“We saw the video on YouTube and identified the boy (as Shadab Hashmi)… his father is a resident of Delhi who married a Kashmiri woman and settled here,” the SDPO said. A case was registered against Shadab under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 364 (kidnapping) and 392 (snatching of weapon).

Videos showing stone-throwing between the police and protesters have been uploaded recently on various networking sites.