Srinagar: Police on Saturday burst teargas
shells and used batons to disperse slogan-shouting villagers
protesting the death of a local youth in a gunbattle with
security forces in Baramulla district of north Kashmir.
The protestors claimed that Ghulam Ahmad Kumar was not
a militant and was picked up by security forces prior to the
gunbattle in the Rafiabad belt yesterday, a charge denied by
police.
Six militants and two security personnel were killed
in the gunbattle yesterday.
After Ghulam`s body was handed over to his relatives,
several thousand residents of Takia and Tragpora villages, 65
kms from here, took to streets demanding a probe into the
killing, officials said.
Police burst teargas shells and used batons to
disperse the protestors who blocked the main Baramulla-Kupwara
road.
Denying the allegation levelled by villagers, a police
spokesman said, "the deceased was a militant and was killed in
a gunbattle alongwith five other suspected Pakistani ultras.
"The slain militants have been identified through
wireless intercepts as Furqan Bhai, Zubair Bhai, Saad Bhai,
Abdullah Bhai, Abu Ubaid and Abu Sayed," he said, adding Mir
was operating under one of the code names.
He said the recoveries from the slain militants
include six AK assault rifles, 20 magazines, 521 rounds, four
pistols, five magazines, 68 rounds, an Under Barrel Grenade
Launcher (UBGL) with 14 grenades, seven high explosive hand
grenades and two Chinese grenades.
PTI
