SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, June 16 (Xinhua) -- A 22-year-old civilian was killed after government forces fired upon protesters during clashes in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said Friday.
The youth Naseer Ahmad Sheikh early Friday succumbed to bullet wound inside a hospital in Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Sheikh, according to police, was hit by bullet late Thursday evening during clashes in Rangreth area in the outskirts of Srinagar.
"He was hit by a bullet in left side of chest and succumbed at SKIMS hospital in Soura early today," a health official told Xinhua.
Locals said Sheikh was fired upon by a contingent of paramilitary Sashastra Sema Bal (SSB) personnel who was trying to disperse stone-throwing youth in Rangreth.
According to police, the SSB men came under stone-pelting in the area.
Sheikh was resident of Ashtengoo village of neighboring Bandipora district and was working as a welder in Rangreth.
His body was taken to his native village for burial. Hundreds of people including young men and women participated in the funeral procession of Sheikh. The mourners were shouting pro-freedom and anti-India slogans.
Authorities on Friday again blocked high speed mobile internet facility in the Muslim majority areas of the region fearing escalation in tempers over civilian killing.
Reports said the internet speed on fixed landline broadband connections was also reduced.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the psyche of majority of Kashmiris. Irate residents took to roads and clash with police. The youth throw stones and brickbats on contingents of police and paramilitary, who respond by firing tear smoke shells, pellets and bullets, which often proves fatal.
A separatist movement and guerilla war challenging New Delhi's rule is going on in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989.
Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.
