Protest in Kashmir village as locals claim slain 'militant' was student

Srinagar: Violent stone-pelting protests broke out in a village in north Kashmir's Kupwara district on Thursday as the villagers alleged that a "militant" killed in an encounter with the security forces on Tuesday was a student, who had gone missing the day before.

"Heavy stone-pelting protests broke out at Dariel Tarathpora Vilgam after 400-500 people assembled there, alleging that the militant killed in the encounter at the Hangnikote forest area in Vilgam on Tuesday was a student," a police official said here.

He added that the slain "militant" was yesterday identified as Shahid Bashir Mir (21), a resident of Dariel Tarathpora Vilgam, and his body was handed over to his family.

The official said this morning, about 400-500 people, including the slain "militant's" family members, assembled at the Tarathpora Chowk with his body and started protesting.

"They claimed that he (Mir) was not a militant, but a Degree College student, who had gone missing on August 21 (Monday) and a complaint in this regard had also been lodged on August 22 at the Vilgam police station. Reportedly, he was not mentally fit for the last one-two months," the official said.

He added that the protesters pelted stones at the security forces.

"The violent mob also set ablaze a vehicle of the deputy commissioner, Kupwara," the official said.

The Army on Tuesday had said that security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation at Hangnikote in the Haphruda forest area of Handwara, 85 km from here, following information about the presence of militants there.

An Army official had said that during the searches,?the militants opened fire on the security forces, who retaliated, triggering a gunbattle.

He had said an unidentified militant was killed in the gunbattle.