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Indefinite curfew continues in Shopian for 3rd day

SHABIR AHMAD. Dated: 9/9/2013 11:11:53 PM

Shopian seethes with anger as curfew, clashes continue

SRINAGAR, Sep 9: Curfew continued for the second consecutive day in Shopian town where four persons were killed in CRPF firing on Saturday. Amid curfew youth took to streets and clashed with the forces, who in return resorted to heavy teargas shelling to quell the stone pelting youth.
Fierce clashes also erupted in neighboring Kulgam town. Youth also allegedly attacked a CRPF camp and hurled a petrol bomb on CRPF bunker.
The Shopian town went on a boil on Saturday when the CRPF men fired upon and killed four people who were riding on two motor bikes. Though the CRPF officials had claimed that all the four were militants and were killed only after they attacked the camp but the police had said only two of them were militants and two civilians were caught in a cross fire resulting in their death.
However, three of out of four killed have been identified so far as civilians from Shopian and Kulgam districts while the fourth slain was buried unidentified in a local graveyard late last evening.
The locals and family members of the slain claimed that all the four deceased were civilians. Following the incident massive protests and violent clashes erupted in Shopian after which authorities imposed curfew in the township.
Authorities imposed undeclared curfew in Kulgam after one of the slain turned out to be resident of Okai village of the district. Undeclared curfew continued for the second consecutive day today in Shopian town. Hundreds of police and CRPF men wearing riot gear manned the streets of the township to thwart any protests.
Despite the curfew, reports said, youth in many localities of the town came out of their houses and clashed with police several times during the day. “In Alyalpora and Baba Mohalla dozens of youth defied the curfew and clashed with the forces by pelting stones at them during the day. The forces resorted to heavy teargas shelling to quell the stone throwing youth. Later additional forces were deployed in both the areas to bring the situation under control,” reports said.
They said that in Gagran area of the town clashes between the forces and youth continued the whole day. “Scores of youth from the locality through out the day engaged the CRPF men in clashes by resorting to stone pelting at their camp. The CRPF personal lobbed dozens of teargas shells to quell the stone throwing youth,” eyewitnesses said.
Youth in the locality, reports said, also staged protests demanding removal of the CRPF camp from the area. “Protests and shutdown will continue in the town until and until the camp is shifted from here. This camp has become source of inconvenience and humiliation for us,” a resident of Gagran, Mushtaq Ahmad told Kashmir Times over phone.
In the evening when the deployment was being withdrawn hundreds of youth in all the localities of the town came out of their houses and resorted to heavy stone throwing at police and CRPF men triggering fierce clashes between the two sides. Youth, reports said, even caught hold of some police men and beat them in Bagandar area of the town.
The forces in retaliation, eyewitnesses said, resorted to heavy teargas shelling. During the clashes two youth Ubaid Yusuf and Gowhar Zargar were injured. During the clashes the CRPF men, locals said went berserk, barged into the houses and smashed their window panes besides ransacking the house hold goods. In neighboring district Kulgam, where the curfew was lifted today fierce clashes broke out between the forces and youth.
“Since there was no curfew or deployment in the town today youth took to streets in the afternoon and attacked the CRPF camp of 18 Battalion with stones. The youth also hurled a petrol bomb towards the CRPF bunker damaging it partially,” eyewitnesses said.
The CRPF personal, they said, retaliated with heavy teargas shelling and also resorted to aerial firing to quell the stone throwing youth. The clashes continued for hours together after which heavy deployment of forces was made in the entire township.
They said that the CRPF men after the clashes beat everyone who passed by. “The CRPF men beat everyone irrespective of the age who came their way,” eyewitnesses said. Locals alleged that the CRPF men after the clashes, barged into the houses and ransacked the household goods in many localities of the township.
Meanwhile, fourth deceased killed in the CRPF firing was buried in a local graveyard unidentified. “We handed over his dead body to locals for burial. He was buried in a local grave yard late last evening,” said a police officer.
He, however, refused to say anything on his identity. “IGP Kashmir will issue a press release on his identity. I cannot say anything,” the police officer said.