Srinagar: The Indian paramilitary Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) soldiers fired on people demanding electricity in Indian administered Kashmir on Monday, killingĀ a 21-year-oldĀ youth and injuring two others.
After the killing, police detained five paramilitary soldiers and registered an FIR against them.
Local said hundreds of residents of Boniyar gathered near the main gate of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) ā an Indian power company that harnesses mountain rivers of Kashmir to generate power but sells much of it to the rest of India, much to the annoyance of the local population.
The locals were protesting against non-availability of electricity in the area. āThe protestors were staging a peaceful demonstration and were chanting slogans against Kashmir government and NHPC. Suddenly, the paramilitaryĀ CISF personnel guarding the main gate of NHPC came out on the road and started Ā firing on demonstrators at around 1315 hours. It caused panic among the people, who ran helter skelter to escape the bullets.Ā During this process 21-year-old youth Ā Altaf Ahmad Sood Ā was hit by a bullet in the chest. He died on spot. Two others also sustained injuries in the firing incident and have been hospitalized,ā they said.
A top police officer of the area while confirming the incident saidĀ five paramilitary personnel deployed near the main gate of NHPC have been arrested.
The arrestees have been identified as Sub-Inspector Krishan Thapa, Havaldar Dwarka Prashad, Constable Raju Ranjan, Constable Ajay Singh and Constable Mohammad Shabir.
The police officer said further investigations are going on.
After the firing incident, tension gripped Boniyar area and hundreds of people irrespective of age and sex took to roads and protested against CISF personnel.
Chanting anti-CISF and anti-NHPC slogans, the protestors were demanding severe punishment to the CISF personnel responsible for killing a civilian and injuries two others.
Uri, Boniyar and other areas of the tehsil observed complete shutdown against the CISF firing.
Meanwhile,Ā Chief Minister of the region Omar Abdullah said Ā no protection under controversial AFSPA will be considered for the CISF personnel.
ā5 arrests have been effected and a case registered against the troopers,ā Omar wrote on twitter.
He said no protection under AFSPA will be considered since they weren’t on counter-insurgency deployment.
In another development a senior minister of Kashmir governmentĀ Taj Mohiuddin told a local news gathering agency that the death of a youth is a simple case of murder as CISF personnel came out of their camp and opened fire on protesters.
He said, āThere is no need to hold inquiry into the incident as it is a simple case of murder.ā
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