Islamabad, June 30: A day after three teenagers were killed and four injured by policemen allegedly inside a house, curfew was clamped in this South Kashmir town while severe restrictions were put in place in other parts of the district. Severe people were injured in the clashes that rocked several parts of the district including Mattan, Sangam and Dialgam.
 Last night announcements were made by police on loudspeakers appealing the people to stay indoors as indefinite curfew has been imposed in the town. Paramilitary CRPF personnel and policemen were deployed in strength in every lane and by-lane of the town as situation remained by and large calm.
 However, people from the peripheries of the town including Sangam, Bijbehara, Mattan and Dialgam tried to march towards the Islamabad town after which severe restrictions were put in place there. Reports said that CRPF and policemen resorted to aerial firing and shelling on the protesters at Kehribal, Mattan, injuring several persons. In Sangam several protesters were injured in the violent clashes between the protesters and CRPF and police.
 Shutdown was also observed in Pahalgam even as the first contingent of yatris reached there amid tight security.
 “The first batch of yatris comprising of around 100 vehicles reached Pahalgam on Tuesday and the others are too proceeding safely without any hurdle,” Deputy Commissioner, Islamabad, Jaipal Singh told Greater Kashmir.
 He said that the curfew has been imposed indefinitely and would remain enforced on Thursday too. 
 Meanwhile, the district administration has ordered a Magisterial Inquiry into the killing of three youth by police on June 29.
 Three youth- Imtiyaz Ahmad Itoo, 17, Ishtiyaq Ahmad Khanday, 15 and Shujaat-ul-Islam Baba, 17, were killed in police firing at SK Colony yesterday. The youth were protesting against the CRPF firing on 13-year old Arshid Ahmad, who received three bullets in leg at Mattan Chowk Tuesday morning. Four other youth were also critically injured.
 “We can’t say who fired on the youth. The district administration has ordered a Magisterial Inquiry into the incident which will be headed by Additional District Magistrate, Ghulam Muhammad Dar,” said Jaipal Singh.
 Although the locals alleged that some police officials along with other policemen fired on the youth from a close range, Singh maintained that nothing can be said about the people involved in the killing. “We don’t know who killed them. That is why an inquiry has been order to probe the matter,” he said.
 Singh said that he was also present at Khanabal-Pahalgam (KP) Road but the incident took place some 500 hundred meters from the spot. “I was there along with Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police after my return from Pahalgam but the incident took place inside the colony which is almost half a kilometer away from the main road,” he added.
 Additional Deputy Commissioner, Bashir Ahmad Khan also clarified that both DC and DIG stopped at KP Road due to the clashes between the protesters and the police.
 However, the residents have refused to buy the administration version saying that all the officials were present on the spot.
 “All the senior police officials and some district officials were around when the policemen barged inside the house of Abdul Ahad Khanday in SK colony and killed and injured all the youth from a close range,” said a resident who was witness to the incident.
 He alleged that they first opened fire on Khanday’s son, Ishtiyaq Ahmad, and later held the collar of others and showered a volley of bullets around their head, neck, shoulder and chest.
 Rejecting the magisterial inquiry, Bar Association Islamabad has demanded registration of FIR in the case. “The accused policemen should be booked for murder charges under Section 302 as there are many eyewitnesses to the cold blooded murders,” said Fayaz Ahmad Sodagar, President of the Bar.
 Meanwhile curfew was also imposed in Kulgam and Pulwama towns of South Kashmir while severe restrictions were put in place in Shopian town which also witnessed clashes between policemen and protesters.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 1 Jul 2010 00:00:00 IST