The deadly outburst over the reported desecration of the holy Quran in the US claimed six more lives in incidents of police firing on protesting crowds in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, raising the toll to 24 since Monday.
Five youth were killed when the police opened fire on what it said was an unruly mob attempting to torch a Christian missionary school while witnesses insisted it was a peaceful students’ protest in Mendhar, Poonch district. The Poonch DM, K.R. Khajuria, claimed only three persons had been killed in the Mendhar police firing.
Two students were killed on the spot and three of over a dozen injured died in hospital. The incident set off widespread mob violence during which several government buildings, offices and vehicles were set on fire or suffered damage. The township was immediately brought under indefinite curfew and, because the anger against the police was on the rise and to prevent violence from spreading, the Army was called out to replace the police in the streets.
The sixth youth, identified as Muddasir Ahmed Kanna, was killed in CRPF firing on protesters at Batpora, in the Valley town of Sopore, Wednesday evening. Five protesters were injured. Soon after, a mob torched a state road transport hut, reports said, adding that parts of the town erupted again with hundreds pouring out into the streets to protest and that clashes were on. Round-the-clock curfew continued elsewhere in the Valley.