Varmul, July 17: A class 7th student drowned after being beaten allegedly by Special Operation Group personnel of police in north Kashmir’s Varmul town on Saturday evening sparking massive protests here. His death couldn’t be confirmed, as the body was not retrieved till late night.
Deputy commissioner Bashir Ahmed Bhat  said that first priority is to retrieve the body of the youth.
“The circumstances of his drowning are not clear. We have reports that he drowned,” he said.
At least six youth were wounded in the clashes going on in different areas of town following the incident.
 Eyewitnesses told Greater Kashmir that in the evening SOG men chased the stone-pelting youth via Azadgunj bridge in a private truck.
 “The SOG men went berserk and beat up the youth and one of them was pushed into river Jehlum,” the eyewitnesses alleged, adding that youth couldn’t swim across the river and drowned.
 The drowned student has been identified as Faizan Rafiq Buhroo son of Muhammed Rafiq Buhroo of Jalal Sahab old town.
 He was class 7th student of Guru Nanak School and his father is blacksmith by profession.
 Senior superintendent of police Varmul Sheikh Mehmood denied the allegation levelled by locals regarding the drowning of youth in SOG chase.
 “Neither there was SOG deployment in the area nor the police personnel crossed the bridge in the private truck,” Mehmood said.
 As the news about the drowning of the youth spread in the town, thousands of people took to streets raising pro-freedom slogans.
 The youth staged massive demonstrations in old town and civil lines area and fought pitched battles with the cops on Cement Bridge, Azad Gunj and Khanpora bridge.
 Fierce clashes were going on between protesters and police in which several persons were reported injured.
 The situation was tense in town when this report was being filed.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 17 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 17 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 18 Jul 2010 00:00:00 IST