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| Srinagar teenager killed in tearsmoke shelling | | ASI placed under suspension, downtown tense | | AHMED ALI FAYYAZ
SRINAGAR, Jan 31: Capital city this evening turned tense as a 19-year-old boy, allegedly hit in his head during tearsmoke shelling on the stone pelting youths by Police, died at a hospital. Fearing considerable trouble and tension over the youth’s death in a downtown locality dominated by religious followers of senior separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, authorities have immediately placed an Assistant Sub Inspector of Police (ASI) under suspension.
Informed sources told Early Times that at the end of today’s dingdong clashes between stone pelting youths and Police in the lawless downtown, a group of youngsters began shouting anti-Police slogans and pelting stones on a Police party near Gani Memorial Sports Stadium in Rajouri Kadal area at 1700 hours. In retaliation, Police fired tearsmoke canisters, directly hitting a 19-year-old boy in his head. He was quickly evacuated and rushed to SKIMS, Soura, where he succumbed to injuries immediately after his admission in the Emergency Ward.
Dead body was carried to the Police Hospital and after a post mortem placed in mortuary near Police Control Room Srinagar. Local cable TV channels splashed images of the youth being carried to Police Hospital but he remained unidentified till late tonight.
DIG Central Kashmir, Hemant Kumar Lohia, said that nobody had come forward to claim the dead body or identify the young man till 2230 hours tonight. He said that on the basis of a preliminary report, an ASI of Police Station Nowhatta had been placed under suspension and an inquiry had been immediately launched to know whether it was an incident of over-reaction from Police or not. He said that efforts were underway to identify the youth killed and hand over his dead body to the family. According to DIG, different Police parties rushed to Qarfalli Mohalla, Gurgari Mohalla, Qamarwari, Rajouri Kadal, Nowhatta and other downtown localities but none of the residents claimed the dead body or identify the teenager.
Earlier in the day, groups of youth, as per a six-month-long routine practice, converged on the streets at different places in downtown Srinagar and engaged Police in ding dong clashes. While these unruly groups shouted pro-Azadi and anti-India slogans and pelted stones on Police, they were forced to disperse with baton charge and tearsmoke shelling. Previously, such clashes in town used to happen after Friday prayers.
Meanwhile, sources in north Kashmir said that Police and security forces have yet again failed to arrest or eliminate the dreaded Harkatul Mujahideen militant, Basharat Saleem Sheikh, at his home in New Colony Sopore as he has managed to escape from the overnight gunbattle in close vicinity of his residence. As already reported in today’s issue of this newspaper, Basharat had got trapped in a major Police and Army operation near his home last evening and he was believed dead during the gunbattle in which one Ali Mohammad Keema’s house perished and the holed up militant lobbed at least three hand grenades on the troops.
Sources today said that Police and security forces completed the search operation today but failed to get any of the militants, dead or alive. However, Basharat’s AK-56 rifle, one laptop and other arms and ammunition were seized from his home. DIG North Kashmir, Abdul Qayoom Manhas, maintained that the laptop was being cracked with the help of IT experts as it stood locked with a code. Other officials in Sopore insisted that two militants, namely Basharat Saleem of New Colony Sopore and Umer of Pakistan had got trapped during the Police-Army raid last evening. However, both of them managed to escape, leaving behind a laptop and some arms and ammunition. Earlier too, Basharat had managed to escape from cordoned areas at least on three occasions.
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