A policeman guards in a deserted street during curfew in Jammu on Monday. The curfew has been clamped by the authorities in the view of violent protests over Kishtwar clash. (PTI photo)
When Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo resigned as the junior Home Minister of Kashmir this morning, his announcement made it clear that he was retiring injured. "My conscience is clear, haven't done anything wrong," he said in Jammu this morning.
Top opposition leader Arun Jaitley suggested, without naming Mr Kichloo, that it's important to confirm whether "a senior government official" was involved with the riots that began on Friday after Eid prayers in Kishtwar, 150 kilometres south of Jammu.
Mr Kichloo was present in the town, which is his constituency, when the communal clashes began. They would swell quickly to leave more than three people dead and 20 people injured. Shops and houses were set on fire before the Army was marched through the streets to enforce curfew which has still not been lifted.
The violence in Kishtwar broke out when a group of several hundred people walking through the town shouted slogans against India. Others retaliated by hurling stones at them.
Mr Kichloo's party says that he attended Eid prayers in Kishtwar at 10 am when the trouble began. He then met the District Magistrate at a government building to review security. But a large crowd gathered outside the building or Dak Bungalow and set fire to vehicles outside. The former minister was allegedly trapped inside for more than three hours before he scaled a wall and managed to take shelter nearby. The Army was patrolling the streets by 4.30 pm and escorted the former minister to his home, party sources said.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that while he has accepted Mr Kichloo's resignation, that does not serve as an admission of his colleague's guilt.
A former judge has been assigned to investigate the chain of events that triggered the deadly violence in Kishtwar.