SRINAGAR, 13 June 2006 — Eight laborers and two securitymen were among 13 persons killed in violence yesterday in Kashmir.
Police said six laborers belonging to Nepal and Bihar were killed in broad daylight shootout by militants in Badroo village of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district yesterday afternoon.
Two of the seven wounded in the shootout also succumbed to their injuries despite doctors battling to save their lives.
“Six unarmed laborers died on the spot while two of the seven critically wounded succumbed to injuries later in Kulgam hospital,” said a senior police officer.
The entire area was cordoned off and senior police and paramilitary officials are supervising searches in the area.
Thousands of laborers from other states of the India, most of them from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, are presently engaged in developmental work across Kashmir this summer. A good number of laborers from Nepal are also working here replacing the locals in most unskilled and skilled jobs.
Meanwhile, at least one person was killed and 22 wounded yesterday when suspected militants threw three grenades at a crowded bus station, police said.
The bus station in Jammu city, winter capital of the state, is close to a camp where hundreds of pilgrims stay before a long journey to Amarnath, a Hindu shrine deep in the Himalayas. “I was about to board a bus when something exploded between some buses,” said Manoj Kumar, who sustained glass splinter injuries and was admitted to a local hospital. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Snowfall and heavy rain forced authorities to postpone the start of the pilgrimage for a second day yesterday, leaving about 3,000 pilgrims at a base camp in the mountains stranded, officials said.
One pilgrim died of exposure to the cold on Sunday, they added. More than 200 pilgrims died in 1996 after bitter winds and heavy snow lashed the trail to the mountain cave. There has been a spike in violence in Kashmir in recent weeks as the onset of summer has melted snow in the region’s mountain passes, allowing easier movement of militants.
Meanwhile protests against alleged desecration of a mosque allegedly by Indian Army soldiers continued for the third consecutive day.
One student died and 15 others were wounded when Indian paramilitary soldiers opened fire on protesters at Trehgam village in north Kashmir Kupwara district.
The locals allege the Indian Army soldiers desecrated the mosque early this week.
