Amarnath row: Protestor killed in army firing

Shravan Shuddha Panchami

Srinagar (J&K): One person was killed in the curfew-bound Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday after the army opened fire to quell stone-pelting mob on the  Jammu-Pathankot national highway.

Earlier in the day protesters defied curfew in Udhampur in Jammu region, hit by violence over the Amarnath land row, even as life in Kashmir valley remained paralysed for third consecutive day following a strike call given by a separatist group.

Twelve people were injured in pitched battles between police and protesters in Kathua town overnight as agitation on the land issue showed no signs of abating.

Defying curfew, protesters hit the streets in Udhampur town on Wednesday morning, demanding immediate restoration of land to the Amarnath shrine board, official sources said.

Soon after the curfew was re-imposed at 1000 hours after a three-hour relaxation in Udhampur, over 400 agitators staged a rally chanting slogans against the state administration. The protesters had staged torchlight processions in the town on Tuesday night.

In the Valley, life was thrown out of gear following a strike call given by the Syed Ali Shah Geelani-led hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference.

Geelani gave the call in a bid to pre-empt the Centre from carrying out any possible amendment of the order, which cancelled transfer of nearly 40 hectares of forest land to the Amarnath shrine board.

Shops, business establishments, schools, government and private offices remained closed across the valley, official sources said in Srinagar. Vehicles also remained off the roads.

Source: Rediff

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