Sikh protester killed in police firing in Jammu, protests in city

A protester was killed and over a dozen others injured on Thursday in a clash between security forces and a group of Sikhs who blocked roads here against removal of a poster with a picture of late militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The incident sparked off more protests in the city and the authorities were mulling curfew in affected areas.

A Sikh protester, identified as Jagjit Singh, son of Narveer Singh, resident of Chohala in RS Pura, was killed when police opened fire in Gadigarh area as protesters indulged in violence injuring three policemen, police said. The condition of the three has been described as critical by doctors, police said here.

After the news of the protester's death spread, Sikh protesters blocked the Jammu-Pathankote national highway in Raj Bagh area in Kathua district. They also took to the streets in Sikh-dominated Nanak Nagar, Digiana and Golgujral areas of Jammu city.

Reports here said that in order to prevent violence from escalating, authorities are mulling the imposition of curfew in sensitive areas.

Earlier on Thursday, Sikh protesters blocked the Jammu-RS Pura road at Gadigarh by erecting road blocks and burning old tyres on the highway. They were agitating against the removal of Bhindranwale posters in the area by police on Wednesday.

An angry protester had attacked a police assistant sub-inspector with a knife in Satwari area of Jammu city on Wednesday, following which tension mounted among the Sikh community here.

Senior police and civil administration officials, including the district magistrate and the senior superintendent of police, reached the spot.

Reinforcements of police and the Central Reserve Police Force have been sent to the area to prevent further violence.