Two persons were killed when an Army's ambush party opened fire on their car in Budgam
Clashes broke out today between locals and security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Nowgam area near Srinagar over the death of two civilians in Army firing on Monday.
Angry protesters resorted to stone-pelting, forcing police personnel to fire tear-gas shells to disperse the mobs. There is heavy security deployment in the area which is home to both victims who were buried this morning. Curfew has been clamped in Nowgam and the adjoining areas including the Old City area of Srinagar.
"These deaths have served to vitiate the poll atmosphere already strained by the post flood reconstruction challenge that people face (sic)," tweeted Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, adding that he had spoken to Defence Minister Arun Jaitley regarding the incident. The state will witness five-phase polling between November 25 and December 20. Counting of votes will take place on December 23.
Mr Jaitley has promised a fair enquiry into the incident, calling it "highly regrettable".
The men were killed when an Army's ambush party opened fire on their Maruti car at Chattergam in Budgam district around 5 pm on Monday. Two others who were also inside the car were injured.
According to Army spokesperson Colonel Brijesh Pandey, security forces had received an intelligence input about the movement of militants from Nowgam to Pulwama district in a white private car.
"The car in which these youth were travelling did not stop at two check points when they were flagged down," Col Pandey said. "They even broke through the third barrier at Chattergam leading to the security forces opening firing on them," he added.
But locals allege it was a "cold-blooded murder", arguing that security personnel could have fired at the tyres of the car to stop it.
The Army said that it regretted the loss of lives and has ordered a court of inquiry into the incident.
The firing took place at the same spot where an Army team allegedly killed two soldiers and injured three others in a case of "mistaken identity" two years ago.