4 more killed in Srinagar firing,curfew imposed

Loudspeakers of mosques were being used to inform people about the killings. Separatists were urging people to take to the streets,stage a 48-hour sit-in and organise community kitchens.

An angry crowd attacked the ancestral house in Magarmal Bagh of the late Mohideen Shah,a National Conference stalwart who was very close to Sheikh Abdullah — Shah’s son Irfan was NC youth wing president before he was elected from Batamaloo.

The CRPF opened fire at five places in the city today while scores of young men hurled stones and bricks at securitymen as they tried to enforce the curfew.

Differences between the CRPF and local police took an ugly turn this morning when CRPF men allegedly manhandled two police officers,including SP (South) Irshad Ahmad.

The new round of protests began after 17-year-old Muzaffar Ahmad Bhat went missing on Tuesday evening. He was allegedly taken away by police after they chased stone-throwers who had targeted a minister’s cavalcade in Tengpora.

“We met Muzaffar on the banks of the stream. We were three and the police were chasing us. He gave me his wallet and asked me to run home and inform the family,” said Muzamil Ahmad (10),a Class V student,who was the last to see Muzaffar alive. “Policemen in Rakshak vehicles caught him. They hit him and put him in a vehicle.”

People from Gungbug,Tengpora and Batamaloo joined Muzaffar’s family and blocked the Srinagar-Baramulla highway. The police denied any knowledge of Muzaffar’s whereabouts and this infuriated the crowd. People spread out mats and sat on the road,demanding the release of the boy.

“At daybreak,the police and CRPF came in several vehicles and fired tear smoke shells to disperse the sit-in. They then made the announcement about the curfew,” said Sarfaraz Ahmad,a neighbour. “They (police) told us they had found Muzaffar’s body in the stream. They killed him,there were torture marks on his head and neck,” he alleged.

The body was taken to the police control room where doctors conducted a post-mortem. “He had blunt trauma at two places on the head. He had been hit before he died,” said one of the doctors. “Our conclusion is that he fell unconscious after he was hit in the head and died later.”

The police handed over the body to the family early this morning. Agitated,people decided to take the body in a procession to the martyrs’ grave downtown. As people crossed the foot-bridge on the stream to reach the highway, CRPF men appeared on the embankment and opened fire,killing 35-year-old Fayaz Ahmad,an employee of the Floriculture department. Another person was seriously wounded. Police took both bodies with them but word spread and people took to the streets across the city.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq,chief of the Hurriyat moderates,led a protest in downtown city but this angered the crowd because he did not go to Gungbug.

At 2.30 pm,police and CRPF men battled stone-throwing youths in Danderkhah locality of Batamaloo. They finally opened fire to quell the protest. A bullet hit 25-year-old Fancy Jan who was standing at a window in her house. Police said she was watching the clashes when a bullet fired in the air hit her. She was taken to hospital where she was declared dead.

Clashes between the protesters and the securitymen spread. Around 4.30 pm,protesters in Maisuma were fired upon and three youths were critically injured. They were taken to SMHS hospital where 18-year-old Abrar Ahmad Khan was pronounced dead. One of the injured,Owais Ahmad,had been hit in the chest. Doctors said his condition was critical.