Kashmir erupts: 3 dead, 300 hurt

Protesters run as a policeman fires tear-gas shells on the outskirts of Srinagar on Friday. REUTERS

Three persons were killed and over 300 injured in fresh clashes that broke out across Kashmir after the Friday prayers even as the government imposed a curfew to prevent separatists from marching to Hazratbal. Mohammad Maqbool Wagey was killed and eight persons were injured at Nagam Chadaroo in central Kashmir’s Budgam district as security personnel allegedly opened fire at protesters, a charge refuted by the Army. With a bullet in the chest, Maqbool was brought to the Nagam sub-district hospital where he was declared “brought dead”. Eight of the injured were referred to the SMHS Hospital, Srinagar. Zahoor Ahmed was killed in the Khan Sahib area of Budgam district. He too was hit by a bullet in the chest during clashes and was declared “brought dead” by doctors.  In Sopore town of Baramulla district in north Kashmir, where massive protests broke out after the Friday prayers, 50 persons were injured. Danish Rasool of Wagoora, who received several pellet injuries, died in hospital.  Fifteen protesters were injured in clashes at Zurhama in Kupwara district. The police used teargas shells and pellet guns to disperse a mob. The ancestral house of minster Asia Naqash in the Habbak area of Srinagar was pelted with stones. Nobody was inside.