Day 3: Curfew on, death toll 3, state govt orders probe

The death toll in the valley touched three on day 3 of curfew. Ubaid Mushtaq, 14, succumbed to bullet injuries that he sustained when the CRPF fired on protestors at Watergam in Sopore Sunday evening. He died at 3 am on Monday at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences.

Doctors said Ubaid was hit by several bullets in his abdomen and was operated on Sunday evening.

At Sumbal, the body of Zameer Ahmad Dar, 13, was fished from Jhelum river Monday morning. On Sunday, Tariq Ahmad Khan, 29, had died when he jumped into Jhelum after being chased by CRPF men. Dar had also jumped into the river and was missing since Sunday afternoon.

Though J&K police maintained that youths died when a boat capsized, the villagers said that both of them jumped into the river after being chased by CRPF jawans.

"In Sumbal, the local villagers have alleged that the two youths drowned in Jhelum river after they were chased by the CRPF jawans. The government has registered a case and ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident," Panchayati Raj Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar told The Indian Express.

The state has announced compensation to the victims. It has also ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident in Watergam. Apart from Ubaid's death, six people had sustained bullet injuries in the incident.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people took part in the funeral procession when Ubaid's body reached his village in Sopore. In Watergam, Sopore, Sumbal and several parts of old city, people defied curfew and took to streets to protest against Afzal Guru's execution.

Fearing more protests over the deaths, the government has called in 25 BSF companies and launched a drive to arrest separatist leaders. They have so far arrested 30 second-rung leaders of the two factions of Hurriyat Conference and J&K Liberation Front.

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