The Jammu & Kashmir Police on Saturday booked the CRPF’s Srinagar unit for rioting and being armed with deadly weapons, besides attempt to murder and rash driving. Action was taken against the CRPF following the youth stone pelter — who was one of the scores of attackers on the CRPF’s vehicle and had got crushed under its wheels as the personnel made a desperate bid to save their lives in Nowhatta on Friday — succumbed to his injuries. A separate case for rioting and attempt to murder has been registered against stone pelters.

The death of the youth, Kaiser Bhat, 21, led to clashes between protesters and security forces in old Srinagar. Protesters pelted stones when security forces stopped his funeral procession at Fatehkadal. Police resorted to use of force to disperse thousands of mourners. Bhat was the lone breadwinner for his two younger sisters. Their parents expired years ago.

Normal life also came to a grinding halt in Kashmir due to the shutdown call by separatists to protest against alleged desecration of Srinagar’s central mosque last week.

The State police registered two FIRs against CRPF’s Srinagar unit under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) and 279 (rash driving) among other sections, including sections 149, 152, 336 and 427. The rioting and attempt to murder sections have also been registered against stone pelters, sources said.

The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) — comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik — had called a Valley-wide shutdown that crippled the normal life. The authorities have already sounded a security alert across the Valley to prevent grenade attacks by Jaish-e-Muhammad cadre on the anniversary of the historic battle of Badr fought in Arabia in Prophet Muhammad’s time. The authorities had Intelligence input that security installations would be attacked on a mass scale. Four grenade attacks occurred in the Valley on Friday.

In response to the shutdown call, all business establishments, Government and private offices, and educational institutions remained closed and public transport was off the roads. The authorities imposed restrictions on public movement in volatile parts of old Srinagar, blocked mobile internet in Srinagar and Budgam districts and suspended train services between Banihal and Baramulla for the day. One of the JRL leaders Yasin Malik was taken into custody while Geelani and Mirwaiz were detained at their residences.

Contingents of paramilitary forces were deployed in downtown areas of Srinagar where tension was writ large following the killing of youth run over by a CRPF vehicle in Nowhatta on Friday. Sources said Kaiser Bhat, one of the three young men who were run over by a CRPF vehicle in Nowhatta — breathed his last around midnight at Medical Institute Soura. The pictures of Kaiser mowed by the vehicle went viral soon after he was hit by a speeding CRPF vehicle.

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took a dig at Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti over Kaisar’s killing. “Earlier they tied people to the fronts of jeeps & paraded them around villages to deter protesters now they just drive their jeeps right over protesters. Is this your new SOP @MehboobaMufti sahiba? Ceasefire means no guns so use jeeps?(sic)” Omar tweeted.

However, ruling PDP youth leader and secretary of J&K Sports Council Waheed Parra shot back to the former CM. “Don’t forget you are the one who said that anyone who pelts stones on security forces is committing suicide @OmarAbdullah Sir,” Parra wrote.

In another incident, at least three CRPF personnel were injured after unidentified terrorists lobbed hand grenade towards CRPF camp at Fateh Kadal area in old Srinagar city.

Security sources said militants hurled a hand grenade towards CRPF’s 82 Bn camp in the downtown area of Srinagar city. The injured personnel were rushed to the hospital. Additional forces were rushed to the spot and search operation launched to nab the attackers.

Meanwhile, a soldier posted in Kangan area of Ganderbal district shot himself dead with his service rifle on Saturday morning, reports said.

A police official said Havaldar Rajpal Singh, a resident of Kanpur in Bihar was posted at 24 Rashtriya Rifles camp. The reason for taking extreme step was not immediately known. There has been spurt in suicides commited by soldiers deployed in Kashmir, during recent months.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, Sunday, 03 June 2018 | PNS