Six civilians were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir when police opened fire on protesters who stormed polling stations during a byelection for a parliamentary seat, a top officer has said.
State and paramilitary police fired bullets and shotgun pellets as thousands of protesters who were shouting slogans against Indian rule charged into voting booths in Budgam district near the main city of Srinagar.
Violent protests happened at many places in Budgam. Protesters damaged and snatched EVMs [electronic voting machines] at some places, Shantmanu, the states chief electoral officer who uses one name.
It was not a good day for all of us. Six civilians were killed and 70 were wounded.
Hospital sources in Srinagar said that many of the injured had gunshot wounds.
Shantmanu said more than 100 government personnel, including police and paramilitary officers injured in the clashes.
Two of the civilian deaths occurred in the Charare-e-Sharif area of Budgam when the paramilitary border security force fired at protesters, he said.
Another person was killed in the Beerwah area when paramilitary officers opened fire at acrowd after people started throwing stones.
Three more were killed in the day-long clashes, with two of them succumbing to multiple pellet injuries from the shotguns which Indian paramilitary forces use in Kashmir for crowd control.
