145;Firing unprovoked146;

Muzaffar Ahmad Ganai was killed when the CRPF opened fire on a peaceful anti-election protest at Quil village of the Pulwama Assembly segment.

Muzaffar Ahmad Ganai 19 was killed when the CRPF opened fire on a peaceful anti-election protest at Quil village of the Pulwama Assembly segment. 8220;He Muzaffar was accompanying his younger brother when he was hit by a bullet in his abdomen,8221; his uncle Khursheed Ahmad told The Indian Express. 8220;The CRPF firing was unprovoked. There was a small group of youth who were protesting peacefully8221;.

Villagers said the trouble started when a DSP lathicharged a group of youth raising pro-freedom slogans. 8220;His DSP8217;s behaviour angered the youth and they started to raise anti-election and pro-freedom slogans,8221; said Bashir Ahmad Mir, an eyewitness. 8220;Police fired in air to disperse the protestors8221;. However, an hour later, villagers say two CRPF vehicles turned up at the spot and opened fire at the protestors 8220;without any provocation8221;. The injured include Md Ayub Kumar 24 and a class 8th student, Zeeshan Ali.

The J-K Government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. 8220;The inquiry report will be submitted within 15 days,8221; Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Masood Samoon, said. Samoon said the CRPF opened fire in self-defence when 8220;some miscreants pelted stones on them8221;. ENS

Tral, too, queues up to vote

Tral: Thousands of weary villagers queued up outside polling booths in militancy-hit Tral on Saturday in defiance of the poll boycott call given by separatists. The high voter turnout is surprising given the fact that this constituency in south Kashmir faced a near total boycott in the last election. 8220;We boycotted the previous poll but the politicians have ignored us and our constituency.8221; said Fayaz Ahmed, a Tral resident. 8220;The way people have come out to vote in large numbers, shows that we have suffered immensely at the hands of politicians and we want a change now.8221;

Tral was once the hotbed of militants and was known as Kashmir8217;s Tora Bora. It was a stronghold of pro-Pakistan militant outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and pan-Islamic Jaish-e-Mohammad. Another key reason for the high voter turnout is the number of candidates 8212; 21 8212; in fray from this constituency. But the main contest is between NC8217;s Md Ashraf Bhat, PDP8217;s Mushtaq Ahmed Shah and Congress8217; Surinder Singh Cheni. Besides, the voters also want to de-link the polls from the Kashmir issue. 8220;The voting has nothing to do with the Kashmir resolution. We want our day-to-day issues to be addressed,8221; said Ghulam Nabi, a local youth.