Jammu and Kashmir.
Two policemen have been arrested in connection with the killing of a youth in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. A teenager was shot dead by security forces in the Kashmir Valley on Saturday during a strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference against the recent killing of two youths in an army operation in Tral, prompting the authorities to register a murder case and order a magisterial probe.
The three persons were injured when CRPF personnel opened fire to break up a demonstration at Narbal in central Kashmir’s Budgam district on Saturday. The injured were rushed to a hospital here where one of them identified as Suhail Ahmed Sofi succumbed to injuries. The other youths are undergoing treatment, police said without elaborating on their condition.
On Saturday evening, Jammu and Kashmir government ordered a magisterial probe into the killing of a youth in firing by security forces during a protest demonstration in Budgam.
Deputy Commissioner Budgam, Mir Altaf Ahmad, ordered the magisterial probe into the killing of Suhail Ahmad Sofi at Narbal village on Srinagar-Gulmarg road.
“Additional Deputy Commissioner has been asked to probe the incident that led to the death of the boy. He has been asked to submit a report within 15 days,” Mir said.
Authorities have placed several separatist leaders including moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under “preventive” house arrest.
A police spokesman said a preliminary inquiry into the incident indicated that the security forces had violated the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) during the incident. The exact nature of the violation of SoPs was not yet known. “We regret the unfortunate incident and extend our sympathies to the bereaved family,” the spokesman said.
A case under various sections of the RPC, including 302 (murder), has been registered at Magam police station.
The family of the deceased claimed he was detained before being shot. “Suhail was first detained and asked questions before he was shot dead,” Tariq Ahmad Sofi, uncle of the deceased, told reporters at their family residence. Sofi, quoting eyewitnesses, alleged “Forces took my nephew aside and then shot him point-blank.”
Meanwhile, the strike called by the hardline Hurriyat faction has evoked mixed response in the Valley which witnessed sporadic clashes between protesters and security forces. Tyres were burnt at some places to block traffic. Shops, business establishments, educational institutions and petrol pumps were shut in and around Lal Chowk city centre in Srinagar, but those in the civil lines area and other major towns of the Valley were mostly open, officials said.
