Security clampdown in Indian Kashmir amid protests

Jun 13, 2010, 11:51 GMT

Srinagar, Kashmir - Tight security restrictions were placed in Srinagar, capital of India-administered Kashmir, on Sunday with tension gripping the region amid violent protests over the death of a teenager.

At least 60 people including 15 policemen were injured during day-long clashes on Saturday as angry mobs pelted riot police with stones.

Hundreds of police and paramilitary were deployed across Srinagar while several neighbourhoods in the city's old quarters were sealed to prevent demonstrations, local police officers said.

Market places and business establishments were closed and traffic was off the roads.

'The government has imposed prohibitory orders banning processions and protest marches,' a police official said.

A 17-year-old school boy was killed in Srinagar on Friday during clashes between protesters and police forces.

Locals alleged that the youth was killed by the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) a charge the local authorities denied.

Even as the police announced a probe to investigate the death, sources close to doctors who conducted his autopsy said the boy was killed by a tear-gas shell that hit his head, the IANS news agency reported.

The disputed Kashmir region has seen a violent secessionist movement, which peaked in the late 1980s.

The violence, in which more than 45,000 people - civilians, militants and security force personnel - have been killed, has decreased over the past couple of years.

But anti-India sentiments run deep in the region, and there are often flare-ups directed at security forces, who are present in large numbers.

Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir, and it is divided into two parts administered by the two countries.

India has accused Pakistan of nurturing militancy in the region. Islamabad has denied the charge, calling the militants freedom fighters.