Tension in Kashmir town after death of injured man
By IANSTuesday, January 19, 2010
SRINAGAR - A 28-year-old man who had been injured in teargas shelling last year died in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla town Tuesday, leading to angry protests in the town with security forces being pelted with stones and shopkeepers downing shutters.
Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, who had been hit in June last year, died in the hospital Tuesday morning, police said.
As news about his death spread in Baramulla town, 54 km from here, shops hastily shut and vehicles went off the roads.
Angry youth took to streets in various localities of the town and threw stones at police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troops, who tried to restore order in the town located on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway.
A mob attacked the local police station with stones, prompting security forces to use teargas and batons to disperse the protestors.
Authorities moved heavy police reinforcements into the town.
“Stone pelting continues in various localities and we are trying to disperse the protestors using least amount of force,” said a senior police officer.
In the adjacent town of Sopore, the situation turned to normal after four days. The town had witnessed clashes after Friday’s guerrilla ambush that left a cop and a civilian dead and six others wounded.
