SRINAGAR: Indian troops and police personnel resorted to teargas shelling during the funeral of a minor boy resulting in injuries to 35 people.
The 16-year-old boy, Qaiser Sofi, a resident of Shalimar, was found in an unconscious state a day after he went missing on 27th October. He was admitted at the Soura Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar where he breathed his last at around 10 pm last night.
According to witnesses, the body of Qaiser Sofi was brought to his ancestral home in Safa Kadal at around 7 AM. They said that mourners carrying the body of Sofi were shouting pro-freedom slogans as they marched towards martyrs’ graveyard in Eidgah. However, Indian forces deployed in the area resorted to teargas shelling to prevent the march towards the Eidgah, triggering clashes. Around 35 persons, including two women, were injured in forces’ brutal action.
The injured were rushed to SMHS Hospital for treatment. They said that forces’ personnel also fired teargas shells into the boy’s home.
The mourners, however, managed to reach the martyrs’ graveyard, where the boy was laid to rest.
Kashmiri relatives of Qaiser Hamid, 16, mourn during his funeral-Photo AFP
