SRINAGAR: Indian police and army shot dead a teenager on Tuesday in protests and clashes in held-Kashmir.
Police and witnesses said clashes broke out on Tuesday evening between forces and residents of Ganawpora village, some 60 kilometres from capital Srinagar in south Kashmir.
“Just when people were preparing to break the fast, forces launched a door-to-door search operation, claiming there were militants in the area. Locals protested against the operation at the odd hour and pelted stones at forces, sparking off clashes,” Abdul Gani, a local told Daily Times.
Amid rains lashing the region, witnesses said violence soon erupted as women and children joined the protesters. “People put themselves in the line of fire to help the freedom fighters escape,” Gani said.
Officials and witnesses said the army and police resorted to aerial firing, teargas and stun grenades, and fired pellets to disperse the protesters, who were shouting anti-India and pro-freedom slogans.
A civilian identified as Adil Farooq Magray, believed to be a Class 12 student, was injured. He was rushed to the District Hospital Shopian. “He was declared dead on arrival at the hospital due to a bullet injury to the abdomen,” a doctor who attended the victim said.
Five more protesters were injured in the firing, according to locals, but they were not taken to any hospital. The body of the student is lying at the hospital with tension rising in the area and a large crowd gathering at his house ahead of the funeral.
Protests by locals during search operations launched by Indian armed forces have become a routine in the region, resulting in the killing of at least seven civilians this year alone. The Indian Army and the police have said such operations will continue in future.