Tension grips Srinagar

Man found dead with 300 pellets

Tempers ran high in Srinagar’s old city  after a guard at an ATM booth was found dead, with hundreds of pellets fired from close range, a leading daily from Chandigarh reported.

The cause of Riyaz Ahmad Shah’s death was confirmed by an autopsy report. Official sources told the daily that doctors who performed the post-mortem found over 300 pellets in his abdomen.

Shah was found dead early under mysterious circumstances near the Government Medical College.  Police had earlier said he died of an injury inflicted by a sharp edged weapon.

But the deceased’s family and locals alleged that he was killed by the security forces.

With the death of the youth, the total number of people killed in the ongoing cycle of violence that began here on July 9 has risen to 53. These include two policemen.

This was the second death since Tuesday evening after a protester was shot dead on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.

Scores of protesters blocked roads and raised slogans in Srinagar, alleging the guard had been shot by security forces. uthorities imposed curfew in south Kashmir areas and restrictions in rest of the Kashmir Valley to maintain law and order.

The restive Kashmir Valley had begun to limp back to some normalcy during the last two days as private transport and pedestrian movement was witnessed in uptown areas of Srinagar after more than three weeks of restrictions and separatist-called shutdown.

Separatists have extended the protest shutdown call till August 5 asking people to resume normal activities after 6 p.m. each day.

All educational institutions including schools, colleges and universities have remained closed since violence started here on July 9, a day after Hizbul commander Burhan Wani’s killing by the security forces.