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J&K Police deny firing on Muharram procession

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday denied that its personnel fired on a Muharram procession at Magam in Budgam district on Monday saying they had only retaliated to a militant attack on their vehicle.

A police spokesman said preliminary investigations reveal that militants fired on a police vehicle proceeding towards Tangmarg near Magam. He said three policemen in the vehicle returned fire in which two civilians Zaffar Ali Khan and Akhtar Hussain Baba were injured.

He said the inquiry showed that the police vehicle had seven bullet marks.

The police party then came back with reinforcements from Tanmarg to search for militants. However, when the team reached Magam, it came across a procession, which threw stones at them forcing the policemen to retreat after firing in the air, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Additional Superintendent of Police, Sopore, Shaukat Ahmad Malik, has begun an inquiry into the incident.

On Tuesday, police fired teargas shells to foil the attempts of some Shia mourners to take out a procession in Srinagar, ignoring a ban, on the occasion of Muharram and detained 70 people, including two senior Hurriyat leaders.

The ban on processions was imposed in 1990 following the eruption of militancy in the Kashmir Valley.

About 100 mourners, led by Hurriyat executive member Moulvi Abbas Ansari and another leader Javed Ahmad Mir, tried to march from Central Telegraph Office area in Srinagar towards Dalgate along Maulana Azad Road, official sources said.

Police swung into action and fired teargas shells to disperse the crowd resulting in clashes during which 60 people, including the two Hurriyat leaders, were detained, the sources said.

Minutes after the clash, another group of mourners tried to take out a procession in Dalgate area. But police used batons and fired teargas shells to disperse them, the sources said adding ten members of the group were detained.

The sources said the agitated mourners indulged in stone throwing at Dalgate, but no one was injured.

Normal activity in Lal Chowk and adjoining areas of Dalgate came to a standstill following the clashes. Shopkeepers immediately downed shutters and traffic movement was also affected.

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