One tourist killed, two injured in J&K stone pelting

SRINAGAR: A 22-year-old tourist from Tamil Nadu was killed and two members of his family, including his mother, were injured when their cab was attacked by a group of stone-pelters at Narbal on the Srinagar-Gulmarg highway on Monday. Nearly half a dozen vehicles were attacked by the stone-pelters.

The stone-pelters were protesting against the killing of five Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists in an encounter in Shopian on Sunday. The victim, identified as R Thirumani from Chennai, succumbed to head injuries in Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences at Soura on the outskirts of Srinagar. The family had arrived here on Sunday and was on its way to Gulmarg when it was attacked.

Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti rushed to hospital to console the tourists. “Stone-pelters threw stones on our cab and Thirumani was hit in the head that resulted in his death,” a sobbing Rajwali, father of the deceased, told Mehbooba.

The joint resistance leadership (JRL) of Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yasin Malik had called for a three-day shutdown and protests across Kashmir valley soon after the killing of five Hizb terrorists and five stone-pelters at Badigam in Shopian on Sunday.

"We have registered a case under FIR Number 57/2018 in Magam police station and investigation into the attack has been initiated. Culprits will be nabbed soon," a senior police officer said.

The attack on the tourists comes just five days after tourists were attacked by stone-pelters in south Kashmir. One of the tourists, Ritu Devi from Mumbai, who was severely injured, also sustained head injuries in the attack. In another attack at the same spot in Narbal, a 19-year-old Kashmiri girl identified as Sabreena from Handwara was injured when the group of rowdies pelted stones on the passing vehicles.

TOI has been reporting attacks on tourists by stone pelters. The J&K tourism department, however, has denied these attacks.