A young man was killed and a child critically injured when security forces opened fire on protesters in curfew-bound Baramulla district even as life across the Kashmir valley remained crippled due to a separatist-sponsored strike.

Fayaz Ahmad Gojri, a resident of Khanpora locality, was killed when a bullet hit him in the chest during a protest demonstration in the area this evening, a source said.

Earlier, Bilal Bashir, 11, was critically injured when a bullet struck his head as security forces opened fire to disperse a stone-throwing mob at Cement Bridge in Baramulla, 55km from here.

The source said Central Reserve Police Force personnel tried to stop an army vehicle which was taking Bilal to hospital. Later, police intervened and shifted the injured boy to the Soura Medical Institute here.

Thousands of people in the old town of Baramulla violated curfew orders and took out a march to protest against yesterdays firing by the police, which left two young men dead and two others critically injured.

But they were stopped by police and paramilitary forces, who used tear gas and batons to control the mob, the source said. Seven persons were injured in the ensuing clash.

Curfew was imposed in the north Kashmir town yesterday and extended to nearby Sopore town as a precautionary measure after violent protests over the alleged misbehaviour with a woman at a local police station left two persons dead.

As the situation remained tense, the authorities held a meeting with prominent citizens to hammer out a solution to defuse the tension. The meeting was attended, among others, by rural development minister Ali Mohammad Sagar, education minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, director-general of police Kuldeep Khoda, additional director-general of CRPF KJ Singh, and Kashmir divisional commissioner Masud Samoon.

The authorities assured the locals that the incident would be probed thoroughly and those responsible would be punished.

Meanwhile, violent clashes rocked Maisuma locality of downtown Srinagar, but there was no report of any causalty. Shouting slogans, groups of youths took to the streets and began pelting stones at the police and paramilitary forces.

Police responded by firing tear-gas shells and caning the protesters. The clashes continued for most part of the day.

Markets, educational institutions, banks, courts, and other semi-government institutions remained closed. Transport was off the roads across the valley in response to the three-day strike called by hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani against the killing of the two youths in Baramulla.

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