SRINAGAR A 26-year-old youth was allegedly killed by government forces in Noorbagh area of this capital city on Thursday, triggering of massive protests in which nearly fifteen people were injured, seven of them with pellets.
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Authorities also clamped restrictions in old city and snapped internet across Srinagar at wee hours before restoring it at around 1700 hours in the evening.
On wee hours of Thursday, special operations group (SOG) of police and CRPF laid a siege around Bagwanpora locality of Noorbagh amid credible inputs about the presence of militants in the area, a police spokesperson said.
The militants hiding in one of the houses, the police spokesperson said fired indiscriminately causing death of a youth. Police identified the slain youth as Saleem Malik, son of Mohammad Yaqoob.
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However, the family strongly contested the police claims and called Maliks killing a cold-blooded murder.
Malik, 26, was the youngest among the four siblings, including two sisters. His father runs a barbeque shop in the locality while mother is a housewife.
Maliks killing set off massive pro-freedom and anti-India demonstrations in Noorbagh and its neighbourhood localities. Hundreds of people chanting slogans hit the streets and staged a protest against the killing. Angry protesters pelted rocks at the government forces to vent their ire against the killing,. They said government forces fired pellets after they failed to disperse protesters with batons and tear smoke shells.
In the pitched battles that continued for several hours, at least fifteen youth sustained injuries, seven of them were hit by pellets and other injuries were due to tear gas shelling, witnesses said.
Seven of the seriously injured youth were identified as Asif Ahmad (22), Adil Ahmad (25), Furqan (22), Fahmeeda (25) daughter of Mohammad Sultan Bhat, Ghulam Rasool (30), Shabir Ahmad (32) and Ali Mohammad (18).
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Asif suffered an injury in the head due to tear gas and pellets.
Meanwhile, the protests triggered by the killing prompted the district authorities to snap internet services across the capital city. In the old city, curfew-like restrictions were imposed to prevent protests from spiralling out of control.
Earlier, hundreds of people attended funeral prayers of the slain youth before he was taken in a procession to martyrs graveyard in Eidgah. Amid vociferous pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, the youth was laid to rest.
Also Read – Our Son Was Killed In Cold Blood: Family
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