One dead, six injured in J&K poll clashes

PULWAMA: One person was killed and six others, including three policemen, were on Saturday injured in clashes between anti-poll agitators and securitymen in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to temporary suspension of polling at three polling stations of the district.

Eleven constituencies spread over three districts in Jammu region and Kashmir valley went to polls today in the fifth phase of elections to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

Three persons were injured in the clashes between securitymen and anti-poll agitators at Quil village as law enforcing agencies fired in air and lobbed teargas shells to disperse the violent protesters who were trying to march towards the Pulwama district headquarters to disrupt the polling, officials sources said.

They said one of the injured identified as Muzamil Ahmad Ganai succumbed at the SMHS hospital in Srinagar.

The anti-poll protesters took to streets and pelted stones at the security forces when they stopped them from marching towards Pulwama, the sources said.

The polling was temporarily suspended in the polling station, the sources said, adding that a photo journalist of AFP, Rauf Bhat, was hit by a stone while covering the incident.

Three policemen were injured in the clash that took place outside a polling booth at Karimabad between the anti-poll agitators and the securitymen, the sources said.

Polling was temporaily suspended at the polling station due to the clash.