Curfew imposed in Indian Kashmir after youth dies in police gunfire

Jun 29, 2009, 12:41 GMT

   Srinagar, Kashmir - A 20-year-old man was killed and nine people were injured Monday when security personnel fired at crowds protesting alleged police harassment in India-administered Kashmir, officials said.

   An indefinite curfew was imposed in Baramulla town, more than 50 kilometres north of state capital Srinagar, after clashes between hundreds of agitators and the police.

   Locals took to the streets after a Muslim woman complained of 'harassment' at a police station where she had gone to lodge a complaint.

   'A 20-year-old youth was killed when police had to resort to firing as tear-gas shelling and caning failed to disperse the angry mobs that were going out of control,' a local police officer said on the condition of anonymity.

   Four other people, including a policeman, were seriously injured in the clashes and were being treated at a state-run hospital.

   'Curfew has been imposed in the town to maintain law and order,' administration official Latif-ur Zaman told reporters. 'We are monitoring the situation which is very tense.'

   India-administered Kashmir already has witnessed violent protests over the suspected rape and murder of two women whose bodies were found near a river last month.

   State authorities had rejected allegations by family members that the perpetrators were security forces personnel. Medical tests later confirmed the women had been raped.

   Large numbers of soldiers have been deployed to check attacks in the state, which has seen a separatist militancy since the 1980s. Local residents and human rights groups have often accused the police and troops of human rights violations.