Udhampur Attack Death Sparks Tensions Across JK

SRINAGAR: Tension and anger has spread in south Kashmir's Anantnag town after a victim of October 9 Udhampur attack by suspected right-wing activists succumbed on Sunday at New Delhi's Safdarjung hospital.

Police and family sources said Zahid Ahmad, 23, a resident of Batendu village near Anantnag succumbed at Safdarjung hospital Sundaynoon and preparations are on to fly his mortal remains to his native village which are expected to reach here by evening.

Veteran Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani's Hurriyat has called for a state-wide shutdown on Monday to protest against the demise of Zahid.

"People have been asked to stage protests against the murder of Zahid and another Muslim man in Himachal Pradesh by RSS-backed goons," Ayaz Akbar, Geelani's spokesperson, said.

Zahid had suffered 70 percent burn injuries when suspected right-wing activists hurled a petrol bomb at their truck in Udhampur's Shakti Nagar area on October 9 following communal tension over the discovery of three cow carcasses in Chenani village which had, according to doctors, died due to poisoning.

Showkat Ahmad, the driver of the truck, was also injured in the attack and he too is undergoing treatment at Safdarjung hospital.

The attack had created a sense of fear among the people of the landlocked Kashmir Valley, particularly those associated with businesses with the chambers of Hindu-majority Jammu and Muslim-majority Kashmir region coming together to condemn the attack.

A shutdown was observed in the Valley last Monday against the attack following which the families of the victims returned the monetary assistance given by the state government in protest against the alleged harassment by officials.

Reports said residents of Batendu village and its adjoining areas have started trickling towards the slain's house and there is palpable anger among them which may spill on the Anantnag-Bijbehara highway.

Chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is on a visit to south Kashmir today along with a battery of cabinet ministers and civil administration officials.