2 killed as vehicle caught in stone-pelting turns turtle in Kashmir vally

Two people were killed and three injured in Kashmir’s Shopian district when a mini-truck turned turtle after it was caught in stone-pelting on Saturday.

The driver lost control as passengers panicked when the vehicle came under stone pelting, police said.

The incident occurred when protesters were enforcing a strike after Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani called a civil curfew for three days starting Saturday. The strike was apparently to highlight the Kashmir issue during US president Barack Obama’s visit to India.

The deceased have been identified as Mohammad Ramzan Malik and Javaid Ahmad. Among the injured are one Ismail and his son Abdul Rashid Naikoo. An investigation has been ordered into the incident, an officer said.

This is the sixth incident of civilians being killed during stone-pelting in Kashmir.

Meanwhile, clashes broke out between activists of pro-India Jammu and Kashmir NGO Forum and civilians at Lal Chowk after the former group hoisted a white flag on the clock tower denouncing strikes and protest calendars of the Hurriyat hardliners.

As the forum raised slogans against the separatists, locals gathered asking them to leave. Youths tore down the white flag and burnt it in public.

Police had to resort to lathicharge to bring the situation under control.

Official figures reveal that around 110 people have died and 537 civilians injured between May and September.