Srinagar police chief removed

SRINAGAR - Riyaz Bedar was Sunday removed as the police chief of this Jammu and Kashmir summer capital after the death of a young man in firing by security forces triggered angry protests in which some 30 people were injured.

The decision to replace Bedar with Syed Ashiq Bukhari was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to review the law and order situation in the city, official sources said. Bukhari was heading the police’s counter-intelligence unit in Srinagar.

State police chief Kuldeep Khoda also attended the meeting, held in the wake of the widespread protests across the city following the alleged firing at the mob by the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Javaid Ahmad Malla, 26, was killed in the firing in the Noorbagh area, bringing the entire city on the boil as frenzied protests left at least 30 people, including seven security personnel, injured in widespread clashes throughout the day.