Srinagar, June 2 (IBNS): A youth was crushed to death, while another sustained serious injuries when a CRPF vehicle ran through a hostile mob in downtown Srinagar on Friday, triggering a fresh wave of protests and criticism, reports said.
A police official said that a youth identified as Kaiser Bhat, 21, of Fateh-a- Kadal succumbed to his injuries at SKIMS Soura here late on Friday night.
The police have filed two First Information Reports or FIRs against the CRPF's Srinagar unit and charged it for an attempt to murder and rash driving.
The incident took place near Srinagar's Jamia mosque in the Nowhatta area, just a few days before Home Minister Rajnath Singh's visit to the valley.
According to reports, “After the prayers, young people assembled outside the mosque and staged a peaceful demonstration against the last Friday’s police action inside Jamia Masjid.
At the same time, a CRPF vehicle was on its way back after dropping a senior officer.
While no specific description of the chain of events has been officially provided, media reports cite a video footage suggesting that the vehicle was targeted by the mob. It shows the vehicle encircled by a mob, people trying to force their way into the vehicle and the driver trying hard to get away.
Another clip shows the vehicle driving through the hostile group of people who are throwing stones and bricks from close range, and people removing one of the injured.
The CRPF vehicle, according to several eyewitnesses, in order to wriggle out of the mob sped on, knocking down two boys- Younis Ahmed and Kasier Bhat.
They were rushed to SKIMS. “Kaiser had suffered internal injuries,” a hospital source said. The images of the boys being run over by the CRPF vehicle went viral on social media, evoking sharp reactions.
CRPF spokesman in Srinagar Sanjay Sharma said a group of over 500 protestors surrounded the CRPF vehicle that was ferrying a senior officer.
The officer, according to Sharma, was supposed to check the deployment in the area. “The mob tried to open the back door of the vehicle that was closed from inside and lynch the CRPF men. They broke the window glasses of the vehicle,” Sharma said while claiming that the driver of the vehicle “slowed down his speed and didn’t run over the youth.”
Police sources, however, said there was no deployment in or around Jamia Masjid.
The incident clouded the otherwise peaceful atmosphere that was witnessed during the Friday congregation, which after many years was held without the presence of police and paramilitary personnel.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah criticised Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who has not spoken on the incident. "Ceasefire means no guns so use jeeps," he tweeted, asking Mufti if this was the standard operating procedure of dealing with protesters.
“Earlier they tied people to the fronts of jeeps and paraded them around villages to deter protesters. Now they just drive their jeeps right over protestors. Is this your new SOP @MehboobaMufti sahiba?," Abdullah asked.
General secretary Anjuman-e-Auqaf Jamia Masjid Altaf Shah said that volunteers at the Jamia Masjid were conducting their work at free will. “We always do this job to ensure smooth conduct of prayers at the Jamia Masjid. Deputing volunteers has been a tradition of the Auqaf during Ramdahan,” Shah said in a statement here.
“Ceasefire means no guns so use jeeps.” Addressing directly to chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, Omar tweeted,
However, the Jammu and Kashmir police tweeted that "a selective picture" did not present the "whole scene", a reference to the videos and pictures that showed the aggressive mob attacking the vehicle.
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