Conflict

Kulgam Killings aftermath: Restrictions imposed in the city, nocturnal protests in Kashmir University

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Srinagar: After four civilians were killed near the gun fight site in Kulgam on Wednesday, restrictions were imposed in Srinagar city on Thursday to prevent any protests against the killings.

The Joint Resistance Leadership has already called for shutdown and protests against the killings in Khudwani area of Kulgam. The leaders of the JRL, Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq were put under house arrest while Mohammad Yasin Malik was placed under custody.

The police said restrictions were imposed in Srinagar’s old city and also in the uptown areas falling under the jurisdiction of Maisuma and Kralkhud police stations.

Canceling a cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday in Jammu, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti returned to Srinagar on Wednesday to take stock of the situation in the aftermath of the killings.

Meanwhile, nocturnal protests were held by the female hosteliers of Kashmir University late last night against the killing of four civilians.

The students gathered outside their hostel around 10:15 pm, and raised anti-India and pro-freedom slogans to register their protest against the killings.

Four civilians were killed in the clashes which erupted near the gunfight site in Khudwani. However the police in a statement said that the civilians were killed in ‘crossfire’. 

The search operation at the gunfight site was called off by the forces after no bodies of the militants were recovered from the debris of the house which was blasted during the gunfight.

Earlier, forces said a search operation was launched to retrieve the militant bodies from the site. However, no militant bodies were recovered from the debris. The militants managed to escape from the site.

The police in another statement said that the militants escaped after taking cover of the crowd which had gathered near the gun fight site.

Forces had earlier detonated the house in which the militants were trapped by using explosives, razing it to the ground. Two adjacent houses also caught fire. To fight the trapped militants, Army had even used helicopter gun ships. 

It’s pertinent to mention that the civilian killings occured  just days after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met the Prime Minister and Defence Minister of India. In her meeting with Narendra Modi, she had appealed for finding ways to end the bloodshed and alienation in the valley.

During her meeting with Nirmala Sitharaman, Mehbooba had called for a ‘humane approach and avoiding collateral damage during security operations’.

 

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