Two young men were arrested in the early hours of Monday, August 26 for allegedly pelting stones at a truck and killing the driver in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district. 

#Stonepelters kill Truck driver.
A truck driver Noor Mohammed resident of Zradipora Urnhall Bhijbhera was hit by stone thrown from a lane at Bhijbhera this evening.The stone pelters pelted stones on the Truck number JK03 F 2540 taking it as a SF vehicle.@diprjk @PIBHomeAffairs

— J&K Police (@JmuKmrPolice) August 25, 2019

Truck Driver Killed

Noor Mohammed Dar, 42, who was from Zradipora Uranhall locality. He was returning home when protesters misinterpreted his truck for a security force vehicle and threw stones at it. The driver was hit on the head and was rushed to the nearby Bhijbhera hospital, from where he was referred to SKIMS Soura and then declared dead. 

Dar succumbed to his injuries before reaching the hospital, the doctors said.

The accused have been identified and arrested. According to police, six others have also been detained for questioning in connection with the incident. 

The stone pierced the pane & injured driver in head.He was rushed to nearby Bhijbhera hospital where from he was referred to SKIMS Soura.He,however, succumbed to his Injuries & was declared brought dead.
The stone pelter has been identified and arrested.@diprjk @PIBHomeAffairs

— J&K Police (@JmuKmrPolice) August 25, 2019

According to Sub-Divisional Police Officer Bijbehara, the police conducted late-night raids and eight suspects were arrested from their residences. The accused have been charged with a case of murder at the Bhijbhera police station. 

“All the eight we have detained are still under interrogation. However, it has been established with evidence that Minhar and Athar, who are 18-19 years old and students of class 12 at a local school, were engaged in the stone-pelting. They threw a stone straight on the unfortunate driver’s head from the front side. He was rushed to SKIMS where he died. We have booked the culprits in FIR No 115/2019 under Section 302,” SDPO Bijbehara Parvez Ahmad told the media. 

According to the police, there were many incidents of protesters hurling stones at civilians in the past month, one of which injured an 11-year-old girl of Srinagar. A case had been registered in that case as well. 

A murder case has been registered at Police station Bhijbhera.
A few days back a girl was seriously injured in a stone pelting incident in downtown Srinagar.A case has been registered in that case as well.@KashmirPolice @diprjk @PIBHomeAffairs

— J&K Police (@JmuKmrPolice) August 25, 2019

J&K Director-General of Police Dilbag Singh has directed officials to apprehend the culprits and ensure that strict action is taken.

Situation In Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir has been under lockdown since August 5, after the central government decided to scrap its special status under Article 370 and bifurcate it into two union territories.

Unlike 2008, 2010 and 2016, the current unrest in Kashmir has been comparatively peaceful, as no major incident of clashes or stone-pelting took place in the last three weeks.

“In all the crises that have happened in Kashmir in the past, at least 50 people used to die in the first week itself. Our attitude is such that there should be no loss of human lives,” Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal Malik told reporters on August 25, defending the security clampdown in the valley.

On August 24, J-K Principal Secretary Rohit Kansal told the media that the priority is to maintain security and law and order at a time when the threat of cross-border terrorism continues to exist.

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