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Youth killing sparks protest in Valley
Amid a shutdown that crippled normal life in Kashmir Valley on Saturday, the authorities ordered a magisterial probe into the killing of a youngster allegedly shot dead in an Army ambush that triggered massive protests in north Kashmir’s Rafiabad pocket.
The strike was called by pro-independence JKLF on the death anniversary of its founder Maqbool Bhat who was hanged and buried in Tihar jail in 1984. Most of the shops and business establishments remained closed and public transport was off the roads while curfew-like restrictions were imposed in Maisuma and Lal Chowk localities in Civil Lines part of the capital Srinagar.
The JKLF is demanding return of the mortal remains of Bhat whose death anniversary is marked with protests and shutdown ever since the armed insurgency began in Jammu and Kashmir in early 1990s.
Apart from the shutdown, the authorities were in a tizzy in north Kashmir where the counter-insurgency Rashtriya Rifles troops were accused of killing a youngster Ashiq Hussain late on Friday night. Reports said more than one dozen people including policemen and para-military CRPF personnel were injured in the day-long protests. Locals had placed the coffin of Hussain on Baramulla-Kupwara road refusing to bury his body. They were demanding the arrest of the Army soldiers allegedly involved in the killing and removal of the Army camp in their area. Police used batons and tear smoke canisters to disperse the protesters who in turn pelted stones on them.
Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani, XV Corps Commander Lt Gen Ata Hasnain, DGP Kuldeep Khoda and legislator Sheikh Rashid visited the volatile area. Reports said Hasnain apologised to the family of the victim. The authorities have ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident and offered ex-gratia relief to the victim’s family. “Magisterial inquiry by the Sub Divisional Magistrate has been ordered and the report will be submitted within a month,” Nasir Wani said.
Sources said company commander of D-Company 32-RR was transferred from the area on the instructions of the GOC. The Defence spokesman had in a statement said that troops of 32-RR and police had launched a joint operation following information about presence of militants in the area.
“Initial investigation of the incident revealed that on the basis of intelligence which indicated presence of terrorists in the village a column of 32-RR established a cordon near a group of houses. The presence of the Army created some panic in a house which led to an accidental discharge of a weapon in the hands of a RR soldier. The single bullet which was discharged hit one of the occupants of the house, Ashiq Hussian Rathar, son of Muhammad Akbar, who expired on the spot,” the statement said.
Amid a shutdown that crippled normal life in Kashmir Valley on Saturday, the authorities ordered a magisterial probe into the killing of a youngster allegedly shot dead in an Army ambush that triggered massive protests in north Kashmir’s Rafiabad pocket.
The strike was called by pro-independence JKLF on the death anniversary of its founder Maqbool Bhat who was hanged and buried in Tihar jail in 1984. Most of the shops and business establishments remained closed and public transport was off the roads while curfew-like restrictions were imposed in Maisuma and Lal Chowk localities in Civil Lines part of the capital Srinagar.
The JKLF is demanding return of the mortal remains of Bhat whose death anniversary is marked with protests and shutdown ever since the armed insurgency began in Jammu and Kashmir in early 1990s.
Apart from the shutdown, the authorities were in a tizzy in north Kashmir where the counter-insurgency Rashtriya Rifles troops were accused of killing a youngster Ashiq Hussain late on Friday night. Reports said more than one dozen people including policemen and para-military CRPF personnel were injured in the day-long protests. Locals had placed the coffin of Hussain on Baramulla-Kupwara road refusing to bury his body. They were demanding the arrest of the Army soldiers allegedly involved in the killing and removal of the Army camp in their area. Police used batons and tear smoke canisters to disperse the protesters who in turn pelted stones on them.
Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani, XV Corps Commander Lt Gen Ata Hasnain, DGP Kuldeep Khoda and legislator Sheikh Rashid visited the volatile area. Reports said Hasnain apologised to the family of the victim. The authorities have ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident and offered ex-gratia relief to the victim’s family. “Magisterial inquiry by the Sub Divisional Magistrate has been ordered and the report will be submitted within a month,” Nasir Wani said.
Sources said company commander of D-Company 32-RR was transferred from the area on the instructions of the GOC. The Defence spokesman had in a statement said that troops of 32-RR and police had launched a joint operation following information about presence of militants in the area.
“Initial investigation of the incident revealed that on the basis of intelligence which indicated presence of terrorists in the village a column of 32-RR established a cordon near a group of houses. The presence of the Army created some panic in a house which led to an accidental discharge of a weapon in the hands of a RR soldier. The single bullet which was discharged hit one of the occupants of the house, Ashiq Hussian Rathar, son of Muhammad Akbar, who expired on the spot,” the statement said.
