One killed in security forces firing in Kashmir

One person was killed on Saturday in security forces' firing on protesters in Jammu and Kashmir's Badgam district, police said.

Protesters pelted stones at a contingent of the security forces in the morning in Narbal village of Badgam, 18 km from here, on Srinagar-Gulmarg road.

The protesters smashed vehicles plying on the road.

After batons and tear-gas failed to quell protesters, security forces used fire-arms against them.

Suhail Ahmad Sofi, a teenager, suffered a gunshot injury and was taken to the Jhelum Valley Hospital in Srinagar where doctors pronounced him dead, a senior police officer told IANS.

Tension gripped Narbal after the news about the teenager's death reached adjacent areas.

Senior civil and paramilitary officers rushed to the spot to bring the law and order situation under control.

The protest was staged in the village following a call for shutdown in the Kashmir Valley by separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani.

Geelani called for a shutdown against the arrest of separatist leader Masrat Alam. - IANS