Shopian killings: Separatists give call for shutdown

Separatist outfits, including both factions of the Hurriyat Conference, today called for a shutdown in Kashmir Valley to protest the killing of four persons in Shopian district.
Opposition PDP and CPI-M also condemned the killings with the left party demanding a time-bound judicial probe into the incident.
Four persons, including two civilians, were killed when militants attacked a CRPF camp in Shopian district today.
Unidentified ultras fired at the CRPF camp at Gagran in Shopian and the security personnel retaliated, CRPF Inspector General Nalin Prabhat told PTI.
Two suspected militants and as many civilians were killed in the incident, IGP Kashmir A G Mir said.

Protests erupted in the town and adjoining areas soon after the incident with residents questioning the version of the security forces.

"There will be a strike tomorrow against the killing of four persons," Hurriyat factions headed by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani said in separate statements.
JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik also called for a shutdown in the Valley.
Demanding a time-bound judicial inquiry, CPI-M state secretary M Y Tarigami said "those responsible for the heinous act should be brought to book."
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti condemned the killings and said she had received a number of calls from the residents of the Shopian town to "narrate a version that belies government story" that the slain youths were militants carrying arms.

"On a day when entire Kashmir has been imprisoned in the name of establishing peace through music, it was natural fallout of the situation that all Kashmir residents are viewed as suspects and the four innocent youths have fell victim to that mind set," she said.