By IANS,
Srinagar : With a youth succumbing o injuries sustained in firing by security forces, the death toll in the violence in Baramulla town of north Kashmir rose to four Wednesday, police said.
Amir, 24, who had received a bullet injury when security forces opened fire on a mob in Khanpora locality Tuesday evening, died at the Soura Medical Institute here early Wednesday.
Tension again rose in the old town areas of Baramulla when the body of the youth reached Baramulla for burial, which was attended by thousands of mourners.
Fayaz Ahmad Gojri, 17, was also shot dead by a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper while security forces were trying to control the stone pelting protesters Tuesday evening.
“Police have registered a case of murder against the CRPF trooper. Officers of the CRPF unit have been asked to hand him over to the police,” said a police officer.
In the wake of this incident, the state government late Tuesday decided to withdraw the CRPF from law and order duties in Baramulla town.
“The CRPF has been withdrawn from the town and it is being replaced by the local armed police,” another police officer said.
The government has already ordered a magisterial probe into the firing incident. The investigations would be completed within 10 days, official sources said.
Authorities have also announced ex-gratia relief and government jobs for the next of kin of those killed.
On Monday, two people were killed and 10 injured in firing by security forces following mob violence in the town.
The protests in Baramulla had begun following allegations by a local woman that she had been abused by a police officer inside a police station.
On Wednesday morning, authorities also imposed restrictions in the south Kashmir town of Anantnag, where people have been demanding to know the whereabouts of a youth who had reportedly been picked up by the army a few days back.
Meanwhile, normal life across the valley continued to be at a standstill for the second consecutive day because of the three-day shutdown call given by the hardline separatist Hurriyat group headed by Syed Ali Geelani to protest the rape and murder of two women in Shopian as well as the killing of youth in Baramulla town.
Public transport remained off the roads, and educational institutions, markets and banks remained shut in the state’s summer capital Srinagar and other major towns and cities of the valley.