Photo: AP

HIGH DRAMA: Relatives hold on to the body of Imtiyaz Ahmad Bhat as police try to remove it in Srinagar on Tuesday. He and his father died after being hit by a police vehicle

SRINAGAR: The death of a father and son in an accident involving a police vehicle on the outskirts of Srinagar on Tuesday triggered a massive protest.

As a mob resorted to arson and stone pelting, police opened fire in the air. Twenty-two people, including 12 policemen, were injured in the clashes.

Witnesses told The Hindu that at 9.45 a.m., the police vehicle hit a two- wheeler on which Imtiyaz Ahmad Bhat and his father Ali Mohammad were travelling near Naik Bagh in the Nowgam area here. Imtiyaz died on the spot and the father in a hospital.

As the driver of the vehicle, which was attached with the Superintendent of Police (City South), fled the spot, hundreds gathered and soon the demonstration turned into a pro-freedom and anti-police protest.

The mob stopped a police vehicle and set it on fire. As the mob started pelting stones, police made a lathicharge and burst teargas shells. But as the violence continued, they resorted to firing in the air.

A police contingent allegedly entered houses and beat up women and children. "They even tore the clothes of women and ransacked houses," said Rouf Ahmed, a resident.

DIG (Kashmir Range) Farooq Ahmad, however, said people took law into their hands and "tried to set on fire the vehicle of an SP."

Mr. Ahmad said the police vehicle driver had been arrested and a case registered against him. But he added that miscreants would also be dealt with under the law. Ten civilians and 12 policemen were injured in the clashes, he added

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