Srinagar protests teens death in police firing

Downtown Srinagar erupted in protest after police killed a 17-year-old boy during demonstrations soon after Friday prayers. Police claim Class XII student Tufail Ahmad Matoo was killed by a protestors stone....

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Downtown Srinagar erupted in protest after police killed a 17-year-old boy during demonstrations soon after Friday prayers. Police claim Class XII student Tufail Ahmad Matoo was killed by a protestors stone. However,eyewitnesses said he was hit by a bullet while he was walking near Rajouri Kadal in downtown Srinagar,where a small group of youth had staged a demonstration.

The boy was not part of any protest,he was just passing by. When police fired on a group of protestors,he was hit in his head, said Mudasir Ahmad of Rajouri Kadal,an eyewitness. Some boys took him to hospital where doctors declared him dead.

As the news of the boys death spread,shopkeepers downed shutters and people trooped out onto the streets,shouting slogans against police.

Tufails uncle,Ghulam Qadir Wani said his nephew left home in the afternoon for tuitions. He was walking near Gani Stadium when policemen opened fire on protestors. My nephew was hit by a bullet. I was shown mobile clippings of his death by some people, Wani said. Everybody in the locality has seen who killed our son. It is a murder of a boy and the guilty should be punished.

Police,however,denied Tufail was killed by a bullet. There was slight stone pelting going on near the Stadium. We did not fire any bullets on the protestors. The boys skull was fractured after he was hit by a stone, said IGP,Kashmir Farooq Ahmad.

Doctors who attended to the boy said they were not sure what killed him. As his brain matter was severely damaged,doctors could not clearly say whether he was hit by a bullet. But,he was hit by a hard object, said Medical Superintendent Mohammad Maqbool.