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Six Sikhs killed, five injured in Srinagar

Six Sikhs were killed and an equal number wounded when gunmen opened indiscriminate fire from automatic weapons in Mehjoor Nagar locality in uptown Srinagar on Saturday evening.

Police sources here said the condition of five injured, including two women, was serious.

A senior police officer told rediff.com that militants came to Mehjoor Nagar locality and opened heavy fire on the Sikhs living in the area killing three on the spot and wounding seven others.

The injured were immediately rushed to the various hospitals in Srinagar where two more seriously injured persons succumbed.

Police sources identified four of those killed as Balwant Singh, Suneet Pal Singh, Suraj Singh and Gurmeet Singh.

The gunmen whose exact number could not be known escaped.

In March last year, gunmen had gunned down 35 Sikh villagers at Chattisinghpora village in south Kashmir.

The condition of five injured persons - whom the police identified as Gurnam Singh, Chand Kaur, Satinder Kaur, Vikram Singh and Dharmendra Singh - is stated to be critical.

Vikram Singh who received serious chest injuries was shifted to the Soura Medical institute for specialised treatment.

Senior police and civil officials including the Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Khursheed Ganaie visited the area. The Border Security Force cordoned off the area and mounted searches. No one has owned responsibility for the killings.

Security at the various hospitals where the injured are undergoing treatment has been beefed up. The situation in Kashmir valley following the killings was reviewed at a high level meeting in Srinagar, which was attended by senior officers.

Sources said the security in all the Sikh dominated areas has been further tightened and patrolling intensified.

Srinagar has been tense since Thursday following the killing of an auto-rickshaw driver identified as Bilal Ahmed Khan of Gonikhan locality.

Residents of Gonikhan alleged that two Sikh members of the special operations group of the Jammu and Kashmir police boarded the Bilal's auto-rickshaw on Wednesday.

His body was later recovered from a by-pass on Thursday morning lying in his rickshaw.

The killing triggered massive protests in Srinagar. On Saturday, police had to use teargas and batons to chase away stone pelting mobs shouting slogans against the ceasefire in several localities in the city.

Despite tight security, the mobs came out on the streets from early Saturday morning. A complete strike crippled normal life with shops remaining closed and traffic completely off the roads.

The residents alleged that despite the cease-fire, the innocents are being harassed and several killed in custody.

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