Another youth killed, Srinagar on boil (Second Lead)

SRINAGAR - A 16-year-old boy’s death, apparently due to a bullet injury while playing cricket near a tourist place in Kashmir, triggered fresh protests in the city where restrictions were in place in the wake of a separatists called shutdown.

A Class 10 student, Zahid Farooq’s death comes days after a schoolboy was killed Sunday when he was hit on the head by a teargas shell in Rajouri Kadal area of the old city. The city has been on a boil since then and Friday’s incident, which people blamed on security forces, heightened the tension.

Zahid’s relatives alleged that he was shot by security forces without any provocation when he was playing near Nishat Garden - a tourist hub on the outskirts of the city.

He was immediately taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Kashmir’s Inspector General of Police Farooq Ahmed told IANS that the cause of the death was being ascertained.

“We are investigating the cause of the youth’s death and an FIR has already been lodged,” Ahmed said.

“By visual examination it appears to be death because of a pistol shot. We are investigating all possibilities in the unfortunate incident,” he said.

Police are examining a report that the bullet was fired at the youth from a passing vehicle.

As the news of the youth’s death spread, protests erupted in parts of Srinagar with people demanding action against the culprits.

Life across the Kashmir Valley was paralysed as authorities had clamped strict restrictions in the old areas of the city to ward off trouble that had started earlier this week with the death of the schoolboy due to teargas shell hit.

The youth was hit by a tear smoke shell fired by police to disperse stone-pelting mobs near in the old city Sunday. The victim’s relatives maintain that he was not part of the mob but was just walking in a by-lane when he was hit by a tear smoke shell.

Continuous protests have been rocking the valley since then.