By IANS
Srinagar : A scuffle between two Indian Army soldiers and residents of a Kashmir town Thursday claimed the life of a civilian while one of the soldiers later shot himself dead, police said.
Residents of Kangan town, 35 km north of here, said they had caught the two soldiers red handed when they were trying to molest a girl, but police denied their version.
The Kangan residents said the soldiers fired at them when they tried to intervene and save the girl. The firing killed one civilian and wounded another, while one of the soldiers was injured in the melee.
The wounded solider of the 24 Rashtriya Rifles was removed to the army camp nearby where he shot himself dead, police said.
Police said there seemed to be "some understanding" between the girl and the two soldiers.
"We have taken the girl in custody. We have booked a case and investigations are on," a police official said.
Army authorities refused to comment on the incident, even as the whereabouts of the second soldier were not known.
An angry crowd later blocked the path of the Amarnath Cave Shrine pilgrimage that passes through the town while administration was making efforts to lift the blockade.
In another incident Thursday, two children were killed in a blast in Kupwara district of north Kashmir when they fiddled with a live shell lying in a field. While one child died on the spot, the other succumbed to injuries in the hospital, police said.