Violent stone-pelting protests broke out in a village in north Kashmir's Kupwara district on Thursday as the villagers alleged that a "militant" killed in an encounter with the security forces on Tuesday was a student, who had gone missing the day before.
"Heavy stone-pelting protests broke out at Dariel Tarathpora Vilgam after 400-500 people assembled there, alleging that the militant killed in the encounter at the Hangnikote forest area in Vilgam on Tuesday was a student," a police official said here.
He added that the slain "militant" was yesterday identified as Shahid Bashir Mir (21), a resident of Dariel Tarathpora Vilgam, and his body was handed over to his family.
The official said this morning, about 400-500 people, including the slain "militant's" family members, assembled at the Tarathpora Chowk with his body and started protesting.
"They claimed that he (Mir) was not a militant, but a Degree College student, who had gone missing on August 21 (Monday) and a complaint in this regard had also been lodged on August 22 at the Vilgam police station. Reportedly, he was not mentally fit for the last one-two months," the official said. He added that the protesters pelted stones at the security forces.