Syed Ali Shah Geelani calls for shutdown in Kashmir Valley after youth killed in gunbattle

A complete shutdown is being observed across the Kashmir Valley after the killing of a youth on Monday in Sopore during police firing on protesters. Arshad Ahmad Shah of Seer Jagir in Sopore succumbed to his injuries when security forces fired some shots at protesters.

A shutdown call has been given by Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani which is being supported by all other separatists groups. All shops, business establishments, schools, colleges and government offices have been closed and public transport is off the roads.

A youth was shot dead while four others were injured, one of them critically, after security forces resorted to 'indiscriminate firing' to disperse protesters at an encounter site at Krankshivan Colony of Sopore in Baramulla district in north Kashmir area on Monday evening . A militant was reportedly killed in the encounter while another militant gave a slip to the forces in the 20-hour long gunfight.

Curfew was imposed in the area to contain the situation and authorities have ordered an inquiry into the incident.

A press release issued after the incident said that after an operation in Sopore in which one Pakistani militant was killed, operation parties, while withdrawing from the area, were pelted with stones by some miscreants. The mob swelled and attempted to set on fire one security vehicle. The police fired few shots in which four people were injured and one died, the press release said.