One more injured youth died in the Kashmir Valley on Saturday, taking the death toll in the civilian unrest to 86.
Muzaffar Ahmed Pandit, 19, a resident of Chek-Kawoosa in Budgam district, breathed his last in Srinagar’s Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in the morning.
The victim sustained pellet injuries on September 7 during a pro-freedom rally. He developed sepsis and did not recover, the hospital sources said.
Hundreds of people were present at Pandit’s last rites at Chek-Kawoosa. Later, protesters blocked the Srinagar-Gulmarg highway and hurled stones at security forces.
In a separate incident, stone-throwers breached the Army cordon meant for a counter-insurgency operation in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. Preliminary reports suggest that the Army was cordoning off Hawoora Redwani village when youth took to the streets and threw stones. The Army resorted to firing to disperse the protesters. Militants were believed to be hiding in the area.
51 miscreants held
Meanwhile, life in the Valley came to a standstill owing to the shutdown called by separatists. Schools, private business and offices remained closed for the 85th day.
Sporadic stone-throwing was reported from parts of Srinagar, north and south Kashmir.
However, there was no curfew anywhere in the Valley. A police spokesman said 51 more “trouble-mongers” were arrested in the past 24 hours.
