Hundreds arrested in Kashmir over killings

Hundreds of people in Kashmir have been detained by police investigating a spate of targeted killings by suspected rebels, officials said yesterday.

Seven civilians were shot dead in six days last week, sparking public outrage in Kashmir and across the country.

Politicians from all sides condemned the killings.

Nearly 500 residents suspected to have links with banned religious and militant groups were detained across the territory following the shootings, a senior police officer said.

“No stone will be left unturned to find the killers,” the officer added.

A top anti-terrorism intelligence officer was sent by New Delhi to the region to head up the investigation.

India’s counter-terrorism task force, the National Investigation

Agency, summoned 40 schoolteachers in the main city of Srinagar for questioning yesterday, officials said.

Authorities say at least 29 civilians — including workers from pro-India political parties — have been shot dead in Kashmir so far this year.

Twenty-two of them were Muslims, officials added.

The latest deaths were two teachers from the minority Sikh and Hindu communities, who were shot by gunmen at a government-run school in Srinagar on Thursday. Another man was shot dead by security forces on Thursday when his car did not stop at a checkpoint.

Their deaths came two days after three civilians were killed in separate street shootings within 90 minutes.

A relatively new militant group The Resistance Front has claimed responsibility for the latest deaths and accused those killed of working for “occupier mercenary forces and occupier stooges”.