Srinagar:
As fresh violence erupted in the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday, claiming four lives in the last 24 hours after days of calm, the Jammu and Kashmir government has asked for the Army to be called in, sources told NDTV.
The sources said the Omar Abdullah government had made a formal request for use of the Army and wanted it to enforce curfew.
No decision, however, has been taken yet on the deployment of the Army.
The Army, meanwhile, is getting troops ready so that if it is ordered to move in, response time will be cut down. Some soldiers are reported to be posted on the periphery of Srinagar.
Tuesday began with protests against one death. Those led to a second death and then suddenly, Srinagar was back under curfew. The cycle of violence had spun out of control all over again. (
Watch: 4 civilians dead in 24 hours, curfew in tense Srinagar)
On Monday, Muzaffar Ahmad, a class 11 student disappeared. Local residents said his death was caused by the security forces. The police said he fell and drowned when they were chasing a group of stone-throwers.
The anger spilled on to the streets and there was another casualty - 18-year-old Fayaz Ahmed died in Tengpura as protesters clashed with security personnel. The security forces were adamant that there had been no firing from their end.
And then, a young 25-year-old woman, Fancy, who was simply looking down at the chaos that had enveloped her city from the window of her home, was killed.
The police said this was an accident. That security forces had fired in the air to disperse a crowd pelting them with stones near Fancy's house and a stray bullet hit her.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police issued a statement saying, "While dealing with very heavy pelting by protesters at Lachmanpora, Batmaloo, security forces fired in the air. A stray bullet hit a girl who was watching from the window of her house. She was taken to hospital where she was declared brought dead."
As protests grew louder and violence spread to other parts of the city, another 18-year-old boy was killed after clashes in the separatist neighbourhood of Maisuma.
Blamed for 15 civilian deaths over the last three weeks, the CRPF and the police have said they are being inaccurately faulted for today's killings.
Top sources in the CRPF, in fact, say that their personnel have shown restraint in the Valley.
Ironically, the fresh violence erupted on a day when Omar Abdullah tried to reach out to his people as part of his political intervention to deal with the crisis. He was in Anantnag, in south Kashmir, which saw some of the worst violence last week.
But as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has himself conceded, the real failure in the Valley has been the failure of political dialogue and it is a vacuum that New Delhi needs to fill.
On Tuesday night, Omar apprised Union Home Minister P Chidambaram about the situation in the state. Omar discussed the law and order situation with fresh violence erupting in Kashmir Valley. (
Read: Omar briefs Chidambaram about situation in Kashmir)
Official sources said the Chief Minister also sought reinforcement from the Centre on the ground that majority of the state security forces have been diverted for smooth conduct of the Amarnath Yatra.
Separatists like the moderate Hurriyat leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who also led protests against the killings today, said New Delhi needed to respond with urgency.
The vicious cycle of violence that began in Srinagar on June 11, traveled to north and south Kashmir, claiming the lives of 11 young men on its way. It is now back in Srinagar and has taken three more lives. (With PTI inputs)