CRPF opens fire in Varmul, killing one - protests against arrests and paramilitary violence

VARMUL ON BOIL

Student killed in police firing, curfew clamped
Greater Kashmir Oct 27

ALTAF BABA

Varmul, Oct 25: A student was killed and eight others were injured, four of them critically, when police and paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force opened fire to disperse demonstrators in this north Kashmir town on Sunday, after which the authorities clamped an indefinite curfew in the area.
Witnesses told Greater Kashmir thousands of people took to streets for the second consecutive day today in protest against the arrest of six youth and alleged ransacking of houses in the old town. However, policemen and paramilitary troopers, who had been deployed in strength, resorted to baton charge, fired tear smoke canisters, and later opened fire, killing a student, Irfan Ahmad Akhoon (20), son of Muhammad Amin Akhoon of Jalal Sahib, and injuring eight others.
Pleading anonymity, a friend of the deceased said he and the victim were watching the protest from a distance near the Cement Bridge without being a part of it. “Suddenly, Irfan fell down as a bullet hit Irfan in his lower abdomen,” he said, adding, “I raised an alarm and rushed him to hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.”
The witnesses said that out of the eight injured, four persons, who sustained bullet injuries, were rushed to Srinagar in a critical condition.
Bashir Ahmad, a local, who had joined the protests, said they were peacefully demonstrating against the “high handedness” of police and CRPF and were demanding action against the erring troopers and policemen. “Police and CRPF directly fired at the protestors,” he added.
As the word about Irfan’s killing spread, thousands of people from the town and adjoining areas, shouting pro-freedom and anti-police slogans, took to streets to give vent to their ire. Reinforcements were rushed to the area and authorities clamped curfew in the entire township.
When contacted, the deputy inspector general of police, Abdul Gani, admitted that one youth had been killed after a bullet hit him. “We have ordered an inquiry into the incident. We would probe the circumstances in which the security forces opened fire on the protestors,” he said, adding that indefinite curfew had been clamped on the town.
Police version
Meanwhile, a police spokesman in a statement said, “A violent mob tried to overpower a small contingent of deployment near Cement Bridge in Varmul which resulted in a scuffle.”
Quoting district police authorities, the spokesman said, “A frenzied mob tried to move towards the main town with the intention to disrupt the normal life. The mob resorted to violent activities by throwing stones and sloganeering and put some innocent people in front. The mob which had swelled in numbers tried to overpower a small contingent of deployment in Cement Bridge area, the deployment had to resort to firing in which one person Irfan Amin Akhoon son of Muhammad Amin of Jalal Sahib was killed, while another person Bilal Ahmad Sofi son of Muhammad Shaban of Jalal Sahib was injured. He has been shifted to SKIMS, Srinagar, where he is under treatment and his condition is stable.”
The spokesman said, “Two more persons were also injured but not by bullets. Muhammad Rafiq son of Muhammad Sultan Kanjwal of Old Town was injured in a collision with a vehicle while the other one Irshad Ahmad son of Ghulam Nabi of Old Town sustained minor injuries.”