Post Youths killing in firing, 2 policemen held

A teenage student was killed in police firing during a clash with an irate crowd at Narabal, on the outskirts of Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar, on Saturday.

Two policemen, including an ASI, involved in the shooting incident have been arrested after a case of murder under Section 302 of the Ranbir Penal Code was registered against them at the local police station. The authorities have also removed and attacked the station house officer of Magam police station, Khursheed-ur-Rehman, for “lack of supervision”.

News of the death of 15-year-old Suhail Ahmed Sofi, a Class 10 student, drew hundreds of more angry residents to join the protests and clash with the police and CRPF. Narabal and adjoining areas witnessed street battles and stone-pelting incidents for the rest of the day in which nearly two dozen people, including policemen, were injured, witnesses and the police said.

The killing took place while a one-day shutdown was being observed in the Valley in response to a call issued by separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani against the April 13 killing of 24-year-old youth Khalid Muzaffar Wani by the Army in the woods of southern Tral.

Wani’s killing had, once again, triggered tensions in restive Kashmir, which only heightened after the police arrested hardline separatist leader Massarat Aalam Bhat in Srinagar on Friday, two days after pro-Pakistan slogans were chanted and that country’s national flag waved at a rally that he was part of.

A local court in Budgam near here sent him to seven-day police remand on Friday. Meanwhile, most separatists leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, were placed under house arrest on Saturday in view of the mounting tensions.

The J&K police has regretted the latest killing, saying policemen opened firing in violation of the laid-down standard operating procedure and that a case under Section 302 (murder) and other provisions of the Ranbir Panel Code has been registered against the policemen involved in the shooting.

Inspector-general (Kashmir range) S.J.M. Gilani said Sofi was killed after policemen opened fire on a protest at Narabal on Saturday, as shops, businesses and public transportation shut down for a strike called by separatists.

A police handout issued here said that following reports that a group of youth was pelting stones on vehicles along the Narabal-Gulmarg road near Magam, the local police, along with paramilitary forces, were rushed to the area to contain the situation.

“The deployed forces came under heavy pelting. To control the situation, they fired a few rounds, resulting in injuries to a local youth, namely Suhail Ahmed Sofi. Unfortunately, he later succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. We regret the unfortunate incident and extend our sympathies to the bereaved family,” it said.

Another statement issued by the police later on Saturday evening said that the preliminary investigation revealed that Constable Javaid Ahmed had fired with his service rifle on the directions of ASI Manzoor Ahmed “in violation of laid-down SOP”.

The slain teenager’s family and some other people claiming to be witnesses alleged that he was seized by police personnel during protests before “shooting him dead closely”. His uncle Shakeel Ahmed Sofi claimed that two policemen dragged him for a distance before shooting him. “One of the bullets tore through his heart and he died before we could hospitalise him,” he said.

The state government has ordered a magisterial probe into Sofi’s killing as his family and some others claiming to be witnesses have alleged that he was detained by the policemen before they shot him dead from point-blank range.

Strongly condemning the killing, ruling PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said it was a matter of grave concern that the security forces’ personnel involved in the incident reportedly did not follow the SOP while dealing with the protesters. “Now that an FIR has been lodged in the tragic incident, I’m sure that the investigation would be taken to the logical conclusion and action would be taken against the personnel involved in the incident,” she said in a signed statement.

Former chief minister and Opposition National Conference president Omar Abdullah alleged that the policemen opened fire on unarmed protesters. While expressing profound grief and sorrow, he said, “It was evident that there was indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force that resulted in multiple youth receiving bullet injuries and young Suhail losing his life after succumbing to his injuries… Responsibility should be fixed immediately and the guilty should be identified and punished.”

Moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq termed it as a “cold blooded and barbaric murder”, asserting that “draconian laws” like AFSPA give “legal licence to government forces to butcher Kashmiris at will”.