Srinagar
For the second consecutive day on Sunday, protests marked by stone-pelting continued in Pulwama, where slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo was from. The authorities tightened restrictions to prevent people from visiting the militant’s home in Baighpora village in south Kashmir.
At least one person was killed and more than two dozen were wounded after the Jammu and Kashmir police and other forces opened fire and used pellet guns and teargas shells to quell protests in Baighpora and adjoining villages.
A doctor at a health facility in Pulwama identified the killed civilian as 32-year-old Jehangir Yusuf Wani, a resident of Uthmula village in Pulwama.
“He was brought dead to the hospital with multiple firearms injuries on his body,” said a doctor at the primary health centre in Tahab, Pulwama. Apprehensive that the police might take possession of the body, locals said the killing was kept a “secret” to ensure the body is buried at the family graveyard.
Since the COVID-19 lockdown began in Kashmir in March, the police have buried militants killed in gunfights in remote and nondescript places in Baramulla and Ganderbal districts.
A senior police officer from south Kashmir said they were ascertaining how the young man died. “We are also verifying whether all procedures were followed before the burial. We will act accordingly in the case,” said the officer.—INP
