Srinagar, Dec. 17 (TNS): Hundreds of Kashmiris clashed with Indian police in the northern part of Indian-occupied Kashmir after Indian soldiers killed a civilian driver who was mistaken for a “rebel”, officials and residents said here on Sunday.
Asif Iqbal, 25, was shot dead on Saturday night when he left his home to transport an ailing neighbour to hospital. His killing sparked clashes between paramilitary police in Thindpura village and residents, who refused to bury Iqbal’s body.
The officials said that the army had laid an ambush on Saturday evening in Thindpura village in north Kashmir’s frontier Kupwara district, which borders the heavily militarised de facto border between India and Pakistan.
As news of the driver’s death spread along with the clashes, the authorities ordered a shutdown of mobile internet service to prevent the protests from spreading to other areas.
Internet services are frequently suspended in Kashmir valley as a measure to contain dissent.
Occupied Kashmir valley has witnessed frequent spells of protests since summer last year, when the killing of a freedom movement commander in a gunfight had triggered a widespread wave of demonstrations in the region.
Superintendent of Police Kupwra, Shamsher Hussain, said the driver’s death was a case of “mistaken identity”.
“The sumo driver was asked to stop but he didn’t and was then shot by soldiers,” a newspaper quoted Hussain as saying.
Soon after the news of the driver’s death spread, people from nearby villages took to the streets raising anti-India slogans that also triggered clashes in the area on Sunday, locals said. About half dozen people were injured in the clashes.
