Whose Eid gift is it to Valley?
60-year-old civilian killed in stone pelting on highway at Bemina

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Sep 9: Third civilian victim of the stone pelting in Kashmir this year is a 60-year-old resident of Malroo who died at SKIMS, Soura, today after getting critically injured on the National Highway Bypass at SDA Colony, Bemina, on Wednesday.

Informed sources said that 60-year-old Ghulam Mohammad Guroo S/o Abdul Ahad Guroo R/o Kujbagh, Maloora (Sumbal) was critically hit in his head when he was returning to his home in a Tata Sumo vehicle from Letapora, Awantipore, yesterday. His brother,Ghulam Rasool Guroo, who was also traveling in the same vehicle, managed to take him all the way to SKIMS where he was admitted to Accidents and Emergency Department for medical treatment. He succumbed to injuries at 1400 hours today.

According to these sources, a group of youth were pelting stones on all kinds of vehicles plying on the highway to enforce shutdown called by separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, near Boat Colony. Hours earlier, a thick crowd had damaged office complexes and vehicles of Srinagar Development Authority (SDA) in the same locality. Sources said that a stone smashed the glass panes and straightway hit the ill-fated commuter’s head.

Medical Superintendent at SKIMS, Dr Syed Amin Tabish, told Early Times that Guroo was admitted with grievous injuries in his head. According to the SKIMS doctors, who examined and treated the patient, Guroo had been hit with a stone and there was no indication of a firearm injury, like bullet, pallet or teargas shell, on his body. “He had suffered blunt trauma, leading to subarachnoid hemorrhage with midline shifts. He had also a fracture. We have every reason to conclude that he had been hit by a stone”, Dr Tabish said.

SP City, South, Mohammad Irshad, said that on the statement of Ghulam Rasool Guroo, Police had lodged two FIRs of stone pelting, one at Boatman Colony and another at Tengpora. However, on Wednesday, no incident of stone pelting had been reported at Tengpora, he said. SP said that the FIR would be converted into a murder case under Section 302 RPC after completion of necessary formalities. He said that Police were looking for the vehicle, its driver and other passengers who were traveling in it that time.

However, a gathering of people at Malroo conducted Guroo’s funeral amid anti-India, pro-Azadi and pro-Islam slogans with the allegation that he had been hit by a teargas shell fired by Police or CRPF. They staged a protest demonstration and blocked Srinagar-Sumabl-Bandipore Road for two hours today. SP Irshad maintained that there was no question of firing as there was no Police or CRPF around the spot when the stone pelters targeted Guroo’s vehicle.

Earlier this year, in the first tragic incident, an 11-day-old baby had died when a group of stone pelters intercepted a vehicle and forced the commuters to get down. The boy fell from the lap of his mother and died. In the second incident, a middle-aged employee of State Board of School Education was fatally hit in his head when a group of youth pelted stones on his minibus, in violation of Syed Ali Geelani’s advice of remaining non-violent, at Batmaloo. He died hours after he was critically hit in his head by a massive stone.

On the other side, as many as 71 civilians have died in different incidents of firing on groups of stone pelters and demonstrators by J&K Police and CRPF since January this year.

Meanwhile a press release from Zonal Police Headquarters said that Police arrested some miscreants and seized their posters, threatening shopkeepers to observe total shutdown in response to Hurriyat (Geelani) call.

According to Superintendent of Police, Kulgam, Keshav Ram Chaurasia, today during naka checking at Paharoo, Kulgam Police party intercepted one motorcycle bearing registration number JK03B/0106 carrying three persons. During search of these three persons namely Sayar Ahmad Ganai, age 24 years, son of Ghulam Hassan Ganai, Nawaz Ahmad Teli age 20 years son of Ghulam Hassan Teli and Nawaz Ahmad Teli, 19, S/o Ghulam Nabi residents of Chian Adigam, Devsar Kulgam were found carrying about 45 objectionable and unlawful posters. Accordingly all these three were detained for further investigation.

On interrogation, they revealed that these posters were to be pasted on the shops which remained open during the day and didn’t support the call for strike / Bandh and threaten them that serious action will be taken against those who don’t support the strike calls. A line of the poster reads, “Jo log is appeal ko kharaj karenge un kay khalif sakhat karwahi ki jayegi”. The arrested persons further revealed that these posters were provided by a leader of Hurriyat (G) who had also directed them to organize the stone pelting in the area. This belies the claims that the strikes are not forced. The person who had provided the posters has also been arrested.

Accordingly they were arrested and FIR No. 199/2010, under section 120 B, 124A, 505 RPC has been registered in police station Kulgam and investigation taken up.

END