Shoot-at-sight orders in Kishtwar, curfew relaxed in Srinagar

Jammu/Srinagar (Press Trust of India): Shoot-at-sight orders were on Wednesday issued in Kishtwar town, rocked by communal clashes over the Amarnath issue, even as fresh violence erupted in Srinagar with protesters pelting stones at security personnel in several areas in the city.

The toll in two days of violent protests in Kashmir Valley over the "economic blockade" rose to 21 with three persons wounded in police firing succumbing to their injuries early on Wednesday, official sources said.

Incidents of stone pelting by protesters were reported from Safakadal, Nawakadal, Fatehkadal, Karan Nagar, Natipora, Chanapora and Bemina areas in Srinagar city, they said.

Despite these incidents, curfew was relaxed in the city to allow people to buy essential commodities, they said. There were no reports of violence from other parts of the curfew-bound Valley.

Curfew has been clamped in all the ten district in the Valley for the first time in 13 years in the wake of the violence. 12 people dead in firing by security forces yesterday in Srinagar, Bandipora, Gandarbal and Anantnag areas. Six people died in police firing on Monday.

In Kishtwar town, hit by communal clashes yesterday, shoot-at-sight order were announced over public address system installed in police vehicles and people were asked not to venture out of their homes, officials said.

Security forces maintained a tight vigil and strictly enforced the curfew in the town, about 250 kms from Jammu. Two persons, including a 13-year-old boy, were killed yesterday and over 30 were injured in police firing, communal clashes and a grenade blast there.

Additional contingents of army, CRPF and police, which have been deployed in Kishtwar, were patrolling the town, officials said.

Of the more than 30 injured, nine of them were brought here and admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital.

In Jammu city, Samba and Udhampur, curfew, which has been in force, was relaxed for varying periods to allow people to buy essentials. No untoward incident was reported during the relaxation, the sources said.

A report from Srinagar said that an oil tanker was torched by a group of protesters at Tengpora on the by-pass road.

Meanwhile, Governor N N Vohra has renewed his appeal for calm and expressed deep grief over the loss of life in different parts of the border state.

In an appeal televised through state-run Doordarshan late last night, he attributed the prevailing unrest to unfounded suspicions and misconceptions.

He asked the people not to give heed to mischievous rumours and help the authorities in maintenance of peace and tranquility.

CPI(M) asks parties to suspend agitation

Concerned over the loss of lives in recent police firing on the Amarnath issue, the CPI(M) on Wednesday asked the concerned parties in Jammu and Kashmir to suspend their agitation and desist from steps that may affect harmony between the two communities.

"The urgent need of the hour is to suspend the agitation in both Jammu and Kashmir, and to resolve the issues through discussion and dialogue," the party Politburo said in a statement here.

It also asked the Government to immediately implement its offer to compensate the losses suffered by fruit growers and ensure that the national highway is not blocked by the agitators.

The major Left party "calls on all concerned parties to desist from taking steps which are affecting the age-old harmony between the two communities and regions of the state."

The CPI(M) said the serious situation in Jammu and Kashmir was "compounded by the tragic loss of lives in police firing."