SRINAGAR : A young
boy was shot dead by security forces in Budgam district of Kashmir Valley during a strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference against the killing of two youths in an army operation in Tral, prompting the State Government to order a magisterial probe.
Amid mounting tensions over the killing of young men in Tral in Pulwama district, CRPF personnel opened fire to break up a demonstration at Narbal in Budgam, wounding three, including a 16-year-old boy.
The injured were rushed to a hospital here where Suhail Ahmed Sofi died.
“Additional Deputy Commissioner has been asked to probe the incident that led to the death of the boy. He has been asked to submit a report within 15 days,” District Magistrate Budgam Mir Altaf Ahmad told PTI.
A controversy has erupted over the killing of the boy with the police admitting that the paramilitary force personnel had prima facie not followed the standard operating procedure at the time of the incident. Exactly how they violated the SoP was not yet known.
“The preliminary inquiry into the incident indicated that the forces have acted in violation of the laid down Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs),” a police spokesman said.
The family of the deceased claimed he was detained by the security forces before being shot.
“Suhail was first detained and asked questions before he was shot dead,” Tariq Ahmad Sofi, uncle of the deceased, told reporters at their family residence.
Sofi, quoting eyewitnesses, alleged that the “(Security) Forces took my nephew aside and then shot him point-blank.”
The death of the teenager sparked more violence in the area with stone-pelting protesters setting ablaze an abandoned police picket and a tourism hut at Narbal.
Reports of protests were also received from Pattan in Baramulla district and Kupwara town in north Kashmir. (AGENCIES)
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