Daily Times

SRINAGAR: The Indian Army claimed on Monday to have killed four ‘infiltrators’ near the Line of Control (LoC).

“The shootout happened late Sunday evening when soldiers guarding the Line of Control (LoC) intercepted four armed men in Keran, 140 kilometres northwest of the main city of Srinagar. The four infiltrators were killed in an exchange of fire,” claimed Indian army spokesman, Colonel Rajesh Kalia.

The incident came after a day of violence in Kashmir, where a local election was marred by clashes that left eight civilians dead and nearly 100 injured; many from bullets fired by police and paramilitary forces.

In response, shops and schools were closed on Monday and public transport was suspended as pro-independence leaders called for a two-day strike.

Authorities, fearing more protests, suspended most Internet services across the Kashmir valley for a second day.

Another round of voting is due in the state’s south on Wednesday, but there have been appeals for the poll to be delayed amid a record low turnout in the weekend ballot.

Sunday’s election drew a little over 7 percent of registered voters to the ballot box – the lowest ever record in any elections in the territory.

Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Monday reiterated his appeal to the people to completely boycott the upcoming Indian parliamentary by-elections in the Kashmir valley.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who continues to be under house arrest, in a statement issued in Srinagar said that the elections held in occupied Kashmir by India were deceptive. “These are sold by the government of India to the world as an expression of people’s will regarding their future. The reality is that for the past 70 years, the people of Kashmir are engaged in a struggle for achieving their right to decide their political future through self-determination as guaranteed by the United Nations,” he added.

Mirwaiz stated that the puppet authorities had curbed the movement of resistance leaders by placing them under house-arrest or throwing them in jails while conducting large-scale crackdowns against the youth across Kashmir to hold farcical elections. “Suppression, detention, tyranny and torture of the people and leadership cannot stifle their voice for freedom of Kashmir,” he affirmed.