Srinagar: Barely recovering from protests over a fake encounter in which the Army killed innocent villagers and passed them off as LeT infiltrators, Srinagar is tense again, this time over the death of Class 12 student. A tear gas shell allegedly hit the student on Friday. The public has accused the police of shooting the boy at point blank range and covering it up. Denying the charges, the state police have ordered an internal inquiry.
"There was no stone throwing there. Shops were open and traffic was moving. Suddenly police came and fired at him on his head. Then a Kashmir police man came and kicked him. Other cop told him he is dead,'' said one of the locals.
People have alleged that after the killing, the police attempted a cover up. They were first told that the police did not fire any tear gas shells that day. Then they were told that it was cold-blooded murder, carried out by two unidentified men.
Commenting on the incident, IGP Kashmir Farooq Ahmad said, "No there can be no cover up. There been no cover up. We also want to ascertain the cause of death. The department will order an internal probe and it will be visible for all to see that justice is being done.''
Before this incident, on January 8, a 16-year-old was killed in CRPF firing. On January 31, a 13-year-old was killed in tear gas shelling by police and on February 5, another 16-year-old was killed in BSF firing.
Another gruesome killing of a school boy in Srinagar. And after every such killing in Kashmir, the government orders a probe with an aim to calm the tempers. When will these killings stop? People want an answer.