The police on Monday arrested two youths who are accused of having stoned to death a truck driver in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district. Two others, including a woman, were seriously injured in separate incidents of stone-pelting in Pulwama and Srinagar. These incidents of violence were in protest against the abrogation of Article 370 by the Modi government.

Six persons have been detained for questioning in connection with the incident in which miscreants on Sunday night heavily pelted stones at a truck at Zradipora in Uranhall locality of Bijbehara area in Anantnag and killed its driver.

Police said that the 42-year-old truck driver, Noor Mohammed Dar, was hit by stones thrown from a lane at Bijbhera. The stone pelters mistook his truck as a security force vehicle. The stone pierced the pane and injured the driver on his head. He was rushed to nearby Bhijbhera hospital from where he was referred to SKIMS in Srinagar where he was declared brought dead.

A murder case has been registered against the stone pelters.

Police said that two other civilians, Ajay Kumar aged about 16 years, a resident of Udhampur and Ms Mehmooda wife of Mohammd Yousuf Khan resident of Kawdara in Srinagar were injured in separate incidents of stone pelting by miscreants.

Ajay Kumar was injured in an incident at Galander in Kakapora Pulwama. He suffered injuries in his right eye and nose. While Mehmooda was hit by a stone in Hawal area of downtown Srinagar. She also suffered injuries in her right eye and nose. Both of them are under specialized treatment in a Srinagar hospital.

A few days back a girl was seriously injured in a stone-pelting incident in downtown Srinagar. A case has been registered in that case as well, said the police. Although the state government claims that peace was prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir but such incidents of the brutal killing of innocent people by stone-pelters contradict the claim of authorities.

It is 22 days that a virtual shutdown was being observed in the valley after 5 August when the special status of J&K was repealed and the state split into two union territories.

Incidents of stone-pelting and violence were being reported despite the huge deployment of central security forces. The Kishtwar and Doda districts of Jammu were peaceful but tense. The communication system is locked down in the valley and the mobile internet service in the Jammu division continues to be snapped.

Fruit growers have suffered losses as their crop was decaying in the orchards as trucks were not available at most places to carry their produce. It is being said that while leaders of opposition parties in the state have been put under house arrest and those wanting to visit Kashmir were sent back from the Srinagar airport, but there were no restrictions on BJP activists who were allowed to go anywhere freely and address gatherings.

A delegation of opposition leaders led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was on Saturday detained at the airport and dispatched back to Delhi in the next flight. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was earlier stopped at the Srinagar and Jammu airports. Left leader D Raja was also sent back to Delhi from the Srinagar airport. These delegations and leaders had come to Srinagar to have the first-hand information of the ground situation in the valley.