Protesters clash with security men

SRINAGAR: A day after two people were killed and 40 injured in clashes with security personnel, agitated mobs on Saturday forced the shutdown of shops in Lal Chowk, the centre of this summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, by pelting stones at police and paramilitary forces.

Besides Lal Chowk, clashes between the protesters and security men also erupted in adjacent Hari Singh High Street after local police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel used batons and tear smoke shells to disperse the protesters.

However, despite the shutting down of Lal Chowk and Hari Singh High Street markets, educational institutions, banks and business establishments in the rest of the city functioned normally.

On Friday, protests had turned violent in the old city area of Nowhatta when stone pelting mobs attacked the police and CRPF. Around a dozen people were wounded in the clashes.

Security forces had also opened fire to disperse a mob in Shopian, 56 km from here. One person was killed in the firing and 12 others were injured.

One protester was also killed in firing on a mob by security personnel in Baramulla town, 54 km from here. Four other protesters sustained injuries in that incident.

An indefinite curfew had been clamped on Shopian and Baramulla following the violence.