Youth killed, 60 injured as people fail crackdown in Anantnag

Death toll reaches 75 on 60^th day of Kashmir shutdown; apple trees of two Policemen and a Sarpanch felled in Kupwara

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Sep 6: Breakdown of Police and administrative machinery continuing on the 60^th day of turmoil, following Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani’s killing in an encounter on July 8, death toll in Kashmir valley has reached 75 as a youth was killed and 60 others injured by Police and CRPF in Anantnag district of South Kashmir on Tuesday.

Informed sources said that the residents of Seer Hamadan, Anantnag, failed a post-midnight crackdown of Police and security forces on some ‘stone pelters’ with announcements on public address system at different mosques asking people to come out of their houses and force the Army withdraw.

Intense clashes took place between the protesters and Police/CRPF in which a number of civilians sustained injuries. Police failed to arrest the youths reportedly involved in some incidents of stone pelting.

In the forenoon, Police and security forces returned to the village, on Anantnag-Pahalgam Road, and thrashed a number of persons. As the angry crowds clashed with Police and security forces amid pro-Pakistan slogans, sources said that as many as 60 people sustained injuries. A 20-year-old local youth, Naseer Ahmad Bhat S/o Ghulam Hassan Bhat, faced the brunt of the firing from a pellet gun and later died at District Hospital Anantnag. He had lately completed graduation.

Residents said that a 37-year-old woman, Jameela, was among the injured who were rushed to SKIMS. Doctors later said that she was stable. Deputy Commissioner of Anantnag, Dr Syed Abid Rashid, maintained that some people clashed with the Police and failed their crackdown. “Unfortunately, a local youth was hit by pellets and he died”, DC Anantnag told STATE TIMES.

Naseer Ahmad Ganai is the 75^th person to die in the Police/CRPF firing in the last 60 days of Kashmir turbulence after Burhan Wani’s death in an encounter on July 8.

Residents alleged that the Police and CRPF went berserk and they ransacked houses before lifting three persons from a load-carrier. Officials said that Police were looking for five persons who were allegedly involved in yesterday’s stone pelting.

Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) Syed Javed Mujtaba Gilani said at a news conference in Anantnag that the Seer Hamdan Woman had got injured in a stampede, not in firing from pump action guns, during clashes triggered by protests against the night raids. He said that the people were obstructing the crowd control policing which often became cause of violent protests and civilian deaths. He asserted that police and paramilitaries had been directed to exercise utmost restraint in dealing with the violent crowds.

 IGP Kashmir said that police had prepared a list of trouble-makers and raids would continue to normalize the situation in Kashmir valley.

Cops’ apple trees felled

Informed official sources in North Kashmir said that a crowd of separatists at Kawari, Hatmulla, in Kupwara district, felled some apple trees in the orchards of Constable Abid Ali Dar, his brother Constable Jaffar Ali Dar and their uncle Haji Abdul Aziz Dar who had opposed blocking of roads in his village. The family was warned of dire consequences if it opposed ‘protests’ in their area.

In the summer capital outskirts, residents of Rangret complained that Police and security forces smashed their houses’ doors and windows and roughed up a number of people. They gathered and shouted pro-Pakistan, pro-Azadi and anti-India slogans.

Reports from Bandipore said that several people sustained injuries when a clash took place between the residents and security forces. The unruly crowd pelted stones on DC’s residence. Reports from Pahlu, Kulgam, said that about a dozen protesters sustained injuries in a clash with the security forces.

Separatist demonstrations and violent clashes with Police and security forces were reported from around 30 places.

Like on every day since July 8, all shops, except pharmacies, and other business centres and educational institutions remained closed over the separatists’ call. Attendance was thin in the Government offices that functioned in defiance to the shutdown call. Traffic was off the road, though some vehicles plied in certain less involved areas.

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[Published in today’s STATE TIMES]