An 18-year-old youth was killed under mysterious circumstances during renewed anti-India protests and clashes between irate mobs and the police here on Friday.
Meanwhile, a policeman, Mushtaq Ahmed Mir, has been admitted to a hospital in a critical condition after he was severely beaten up by a mob which also snatched his s
ervice rifle at Safa Kadal in central Srinagar, officials said.
While some reports quoting witnesses alleged that the youth was beaten up by policemen and later died on his way to hospital, the authorities claimed it was a case of murder and that the police was seeking out two persons who brought him to hospital but quickly disappeared after informing the doctors that he had sustained a bullet wound.
The clashes started after the Friday congregations at the local mosques, mainly in central Srinagar, when groups of youth took to the streets, chanting pro-freedom and anti Indian slogans but soon clashed with the police and the CRPF as they came in their way and fired teargas canisters to break up the protests.
A few rifle shots were also fired over the heads of the protesters who responded by hurling stones, rocks and other things at the policemen.