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SRINAGAR: Amid curfew-like restrictions, a Hurriyat activist was injured Wednesday after police and paramilitary forces lobbed teargas canisters at a separatist procession on the outskirts of Srinagar city.
Reports said the procession, carried out by the veteran Hurriyat leader, Syed Ali Geelani's Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, was intercepted by forces on Wednesday morning before it could reach the Zainakote residence of Gowhar Nazir Dar.
Gowhar, whose grandmother passed away on Sunday due to shock, was shot dead allegedly by CRPF personnel outside his home near Zainakote when he had gone out to purchase milk, according to his family members.
Geelani and other separatist groups have urged people to hold a condolence meeting at the residence of Gowhar today which has been sealed by police from all sides to prevent any flare-up.
Reports said Hurriyat leaders including Nisar Hussain Rather, Muhammad Yaseen and Imtiyaz Hyder were on way to Zainakote when police lobbed teargas canisters at them near Khushipora, resulting in minor injuries to Nisar.
Top Hurriyat leaders including Geelani and moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who spoke with Gowhar's family on Monday over THE phone, have been placed under house-arrest to prevent any protests.
Authorities have imposed curfew-like restrictions in parts of Srinagar to foil the separatists' attempt to reach out to the slain's family who have accused the CRPF personnel of killing Gowhar, an engineering student, in "cold blood".
The J&K Police has registered a case of "attempt to murder" in the incident which took place after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi wounded up his visit to the state.
SSP Srinagar Amit Kumar said in Srinagar Wednesday that police have started investigations into the case but nobody has been charged so far. “We have registered a case of attempt to murder and the investigation is going on. We will identiFy the culprits after the investigations are completed,” said.
Earlier, Director General of J&K Police, K Rajendra Kumar said that the guilty will be punished as per law. “Everything will be clear once the case is thoroughly investigated. Loss of any innocent life is condemnable and law will take its own course. Whosoever is found guilty will be punished,” the DGP said.
Official sources said there was no deployment of police in the area at the time of the incident which took place near the unit headquarter of 44 Battalion, CRPF, on the outskirts of Srinagar city.
Gowhar's family has accused the CRPF personnel of killing him, claiming that the cause of his death has been described by doctors as due to "teargas/bullet injury" on his head.
The J&K government and the CRPF, which has shrugged off the blame, have also initiated inquiries into the case, which has evoked condemnation from the political parties as well as the civil society groups.
